Record Year for Routes Events

MANCHESTER, England, January 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Organisers of world's largest civil aviation event aim for further growth in 2015 

2014 was another record year for Routes, part of UBM EMEA, with more delegates than ever before attending its World Routes and Regional Route Development Forums.

A record number of 6,116 delegates representing 144 countries attended the six events that Routes organised around the globe in 2014. These forums, which focus entirely on air service development, have become the must-attend events of the annual calendar recognised for shaping the world's future air networks.

Katie Bland, Director Routes for UBM Live commented: "The record attendance from airlines, airports and an increasing number of representatives from tourism authorities and other aviation stakeholders at our 2014 events highlights the importance of air service development and its economic impact on national and regional economies. With 27,300 face-to-face meetings taking place at our 2014 events, we offer the most efficient forum for everyone involved in negotiating and creating new air links."

In total, 630 airlines and 1,500 airports were represented at the events, which took place in six countries in 2014. Five successful Routes Regional events took place during the year to foster air links within the world's key regional aviation markets with the 7th Routes Americas in San Salvador, El Salvador, the 12th Routes Asia in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, the 9th Routes Europe in Marseille, France, the 9th Routes Africa in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and the first ever Routes Silk Road in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Almost 3,000 delegates gathered in Chicago, Illinois, USA at the end of September as World Routes, the world's largest civil aviation gathering, celebrated its 20^th anniversary at an event which was co-hosted by Chicago Department of Aviation and Choose Chicago. The event also saw attendance from many of the world's leading carriers, including all of the top 10 and 40 of the top 50 airlines (measured by Available Seat Kilometres (ASK)).

Overall, this year's events attendees saved 45,000 estimated days of travel by having their meetings at Routes. 11,800 users were active on Routesonline with 407,000 Route Exchange profile views supporting preparation for the meetings which took place.

Looking ahead to 2015, organisers are planning to build on the improvements made in 2014 and enhance the event experience even further. Routes events have already been confirmed and scheduled for 2015 and beyond, thanks to the in-depth Host selection process, which sees airports and tourism authorities submit a competitive bid to host one of the premier route development networking events. 2015 will see more 'firsts' for the event as World Routes heads to Africa for the first time, when the 21^st World Route Development Forum takes place in Durban, South Africa and Routes Europe heads to the UK for the first time in its 10 year history. In addition, 2015 will see Routes Americas taking place in Denver, marking the first time the event has taken place in the US, Routes Silk Road return to Tbilisi when the event is hosted for the second consecutive year by United Airports of Georgia, and the inaugural Routes Middle East & Africa event take place in Bahrain. The complete 2015 event programme can be found below:

• Routes Americas: 1-3 February, Denver, Colorado (USA)
• Routes Asia: 15-17 March, Kunming (China)
• Routes Europe: 12-14 April, Aberdeen (Scotland)
• Routes Silk Road: 5-7 July, Tbilisi (Georgia)
• Routes Middle East & Africa: 31 May-2 June, Manama (Kingdom of Bahrain)
• World Routes: 19-22 September, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province (South Africa)

2014 was also a phenomenal year for the Future Hosting Team with many announcements made over the last 12 months including two World Routes events. Future events that have already been announced for 2016 and beyond include: Routes Europe 2016 (Krakow, Poland), Routes Asia 2016 (Manila, the Philippines), World Routes 2016 (Chengdu, China) and World Routes 2017 (Barcelona, Catalonia).

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 are part of the UBM EMEA division of UBM plc.
• UBM EMEA 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 EMEA 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.

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

About UBM plc 

• UBM plc is a global events-led marketing services and communications company.  We help businesses do business, bringing the world's buyers and sellers together at events and online, as well as producing and distributing news and specialist content. Our 5,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into expert teams which serve commercial and professional communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.
• For more information, go to http://www.ubm.com; follow us on Twitter at @UBM_plc to get the latest UBM corporate news; follow @UBM for news from all UBM's businesses; follow @UBM for a flavour of UBM from selected members of UBM's Twitterati.

SOURCE UBM Live Routes Ltd