2015 Routes Americas, now in its 8th year, will see a record number of attendees after opening in Denver, Colo., marking the first time that the event has been held in the U.S.
The event, which will take place from Feb. 1-3, will bring 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 percent 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 Kim Day, CEO, Denver International Airport. “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 percent growth,” said Katie Bland, director Routes, UBM EMEA. “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 U.S. 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 will also see 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, Düsseldorf 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 percent increase in attendance from this sector of the industry.
The event will open with the Routes Americas Strategy Summit where attendees will hear 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.
