Record numbers of route development professionals flock to Denver for the largest commercial aviation event for the entire Americas region.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – Routes Americas, now in its 8th year, will see a record number of attendees when the 2015 event opens in Denver, Colorado in three days time, marking the first time that the event has been held in the United States. The event, which takes place from 1 to 3 February 2015, brings together leading airports, airlines, tourism authorities, policy-makers and other aviation stakeholders to develop new air services to, from and within the Americas.
Hosted by Denver International Airport, supported by Visit Denver, Metro Denver EDC, State of Colorado, InterVISTAS and Colorado Ski Country USA, Routes Americas 2015 is expected to see representation from over 80 airlines, 275 airports and almost 40 tourism authorities along with a number of other industry stakeholders from across the Americas to discuss air service development. In total the event will see over 650 route development professionals in attendance which equates to around 40% year on year growth for the largest route development event for the entire Americas.
“I want to wish Routes Americas conference attendees a ‘Mile High’ welcome to our great city,” said Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock. “We are looking forward to seeing some familiar faces in the aviation industry as well as building relationships with new partners from around the world. Colorado has a strong economy, and it is an important goal for us to continue to expand Denver’s global connectivity.”
“This conference provides Denver International Airport a unique opportunity to showcase Denver and the Rocky Mountain region to aviation professionals from around the world,” said Denver International Airport CEO Kim Day. “We are proud to be the first U.S. city to host this very significant global aviation conference.”
“Routes Americas has attracted over 650 delegates this year from across North America and Latin Americas & Caribbean, representing 40% growth,” said Katie Bland, Director Routes for UBM EMEA continuing: “This growth is beyond our expectations and I’d like to thank our host, Denver International Airport, and partners for hosting this year’s event and for their excellent collaboration with our team to deliver a record event”.
The event attracts the highest level of senior decision makers and he region’s leading airlines will be represented by senior delegations in Denver including all three major US Carriers; Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines, the latter two of which will attend with a large number of representatives. In addition Canada’s two largest airlines, WestJet and Air Canada will return to the event after a year’s absence.
This year’s event also sees a large number of carriers attending for the first time including AZUL, Frontier Airlines, Virgin America, SkyWest and tour operators Apple Vacations and Aventura 2000. Out of region airlines will also be well represented in Denver with representatives from 28 carriers confirmed including Air China, Lufthansa Group (also representing Swiss International, Austrian and Brussels Airlines), British Airways, Thomas Cook Airlines Group, Ethiopian Airlines and China Southern amongst others.
The event has also seen significant growth from airports and tourism authorities with 99 airports attending the event for the first time including Queretaro Intercontinental Airport, Aeroporto Internacional de Confins, Will Rogers World Airport, North Central West Virginia Airport, Dusseldorf Airport and Dublin Airport. Tourism authorities which are new to the event this year include Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority and Explore Fairbanks which have contributed to the 48% increase in attendance from this sector of the industry.
The event opened on Sunday 1st February at 12:30 with the Routes Americas Strategy Summit where attendees heared a keynote address from John Byerly, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, U.S. State Department. A number of moderator led panel discussions, involving many high level industry thought leaders, will then address key air service development issues affecting commercial aviation across the entire Americas region.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
