MANCHESTER, England, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Routes Asia to return to India during critical time for aviation in the region

The 11^th Routes Asia event will take place on 17-19 March in Mumbai, India. With over 600 delegates representing 300 airlines and airports from across the region, the event is expected to match or even surpass last year's record total. Routes Asia is the only annual event designed to facilitate meetings between senior airport executives and airline route decision makers as well as tourism authorities from the entire Asia region.

The event is expected to attract over 90 airlines from across the region. The seniority of airline delegates is very high with CEOs and other high level delegates from a variety of carriers, including Aditya Ghosh, President of IndiGo along with Mr Sanjay Kumar, IndiGo's Chief Commercial Officer, Neil Mills, CEO of Spicejet and Hou Wei, Chief Marketing Officer of Hainan Airlines.

Airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, Spicejet and IndiGo will attend with very senior delegations along with Air India Express and JetLite. The event also promises a large Chinese presence with Air China, Shenzhen Airlines, Hainan Airlines, China Eastern and China Southern Airlines all registered to attend.  The Low Cost sector will also be well represented with attendance from Jetstar Airways, LionAir, The AirAsia Group and Tiger Airways along with major carriers Qantas, Malaysia Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Etihad, Japan Airlines and Philippine Airlines.  Other carriers who have signed up for the Indian event recently include Singapore Airlines, Silk Air, GoAir, Emirates and Spring Airlines.

Almost 220 airport delegates representing 210 airports have also registered to attend the event to date. Recent registrations include key airports and tourism authorities including GMR Hyderabad International Airport, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, Changi Airport Group, Queen Alia International Airport, King Fahd International Airport, Abu Dhabi Airports Company, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as well as the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Taking place on Sunday 17^th March 2013, the Routes Asia Strategy Summit will open Routes Asia in Mumbai.  It will provide a valuable insight into aviation across the region as panels of leading industry experts take part in a number of moderator led discussions addressing key air service development issues such as Developing Hubs in Asia and Chasing the Tiger and the Dragon, which will look the fast-growing outbound travel markets for China and India. The session Where next for Asian Low Cost Carriers? will look at this rapidly evolving segment of the Asian aviation market.

David Stroud, Executive Vice President Routes is looking forward to the event: "It is an interesting time for aviation in Asia. Overall this market of four billion people is growing very fast, but the situation is also very different from country to country. It is certainly timely for Routes Asia to return to India, a market on which airlines from all over the world have set their eyes and are looking for ways to expand."

Commenting on the overwhelming response, Mr. G. V. Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd., which is also the host organization said: "The record number of registrations from the aviation industry for the 11th Routes Asia 2013 is extremely gratifying. We at GVK CSIA are overwhelmed by the ever increasing delegate registrations that have indeed exceeded our expectations. Hosting Routes Asia 2013 is a great honour and we extend a warm welcome to all participating delegates to visit Mumbai and discuss business opportunities of air services to this most dynamic Indian city."

Mumbai, known as the commercial capital of India, holds the pulse of India's financial, business and entertainment industries.  Home to a population of 20 million, the city contributes approximately 40% of the total foreign trade in India and in 2010 6.16% of India's total GDP was generated by Mumbai. Mumbai is the capital of the state of Maharashtra and the location of major industries such as banking and financial services, textiles, gems and jewellery, petroleum refining, oil and gas, IT, telecoms and healthcare.  Mumbai is also home to the largest film industry in the world - Bollywood.

Notes to Editors

About Routes

• Routes organises world-renowned airline and airport networking events through its regional and global Route Development Forums. Each year, there is one global event and one regional event in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and CIS respectively. http://www.routesonline.com
  
• Routes was founded in 1995 as part of the Manchester UK‐based ASM Ltd., a consultancy specialising in the field of route development for airports. http://www.asm-global.com/
  
• Routes and ASM were acquired by UBM Aviation Worldwide Ltd in August 2010.  From 1^st August 2012 Routes, ASM and the Airport Cities Conference and Exhibition become part of the UBM Live division of UBM plc.
  
• UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets.  Through premiere brands such as MD&M, CPhI, IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show, the Routes portfolio of events, Airport Cities and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry sectors. http://www.ubmlive.com

Follow us on twitter: @Routesonline, @TheHUBRoutes, @VictoriaRoutes, @NLPROU, @airlineroute

SOURCE UBM Aviation Routes Ltd