A Message From the Team
We are excited to share with you some of our achievements from the last few years, as well as the innovations introduced in 2018 which we will be bringing with us to benefit Routes Europe 2019.
Each year, Routes Europe has grown in both size and number of attendees – yet retains its reputation for being the largest and most important European route development forum, where a close community of professionals meet and network. In 2017, all Group 1-4 airports on ACI’s list of fastest-growing airports attended Routes Europe, and former Routes Europe host, Krakow, featured in the top 5.
Airports’ desire to exhibit has been growing, with the majority of exhibitors coming from airports under 10 million passengers. In order to ensure that Europe’s regional airports do not need to compete with larger stands, we have put a cap on stand space at 25m2 per exhibitor.
Routes have always looked to support regional airports with ambitions to grow. This has been a major part of our hosting model with the average Routes Europe host airport having 7.2 million passengers. Regional airports that have already chosen Routes Europe 2019 as their platform to promote their hub to the region’s route development professionals include Budapest Airport, Aena, Bristol Airport and the Best of France.
Always innovating and improving, 2019 will see Routes Europe adopt some of the features that have proven popular at World Routes, such as exhibitor networking sessions, meetings on stands, Fast Track, a dedicated city pair meeting area and an improved self-scan registration process. Routes Europe 2018 saw a record number of meetings take place, with more than 5,000 pre-scheduled meetings creating the most effective and efficient route development event in Europe.
Routes Europe is the only place key airline leaders chose to speak on current and future topics affecting the airline industry. Previous speakers include Alex Cruz, CEO British Airways, who attended Routes Europe in Bilbao. As Britain prepares to leave the EU, much uncertainty hangs in the air for Europe’s aviation industry. Theoretically, a ‘no deal’ scenario could mean no flights moving between the UK and EU on 29 March 2019, although it is likely that a transition agreement will be implemented. Sure to attract more high-profile speakers, the Routes Europe 2019 Conference Programme will explore the details of this potential air transport deal, and what the post-Brexit landscape will mean for airlines and airports alike.
We look forward to welcoming you to Hannover for Routes Europe 2019.