World's Largest Civil Aviation Event Sets Sight on Americas Following Record Year

MANCHESTER, England, January 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Last year was another record year for Routes, part of UBM Live, with more delegates than ever before attending its World and Regional Route Development Forums, including World Routes, the world's largest civil aviation gathering.

A record number of over 5,600 delegates attended the six forums that Routes organised around the globe in 2013: World Routes in Las Vegas, USA; Routes Asia in Mumbai, India; Routes Europe in Budapest, Hungary; Routes Americas in Cartagena, Colombia; Routes Africa in Kampala, Uganda; and Routes CIS in Donetsk, Ukraine. These gatherings, which focus entirely on aviation route development, have become the must attend events of the year that shape the world's air services.

Katie Bland, Director of Routes, said: "Routes is where the aviation industry decides where people will fly in the future. With 16,000 face-to-face meetings at World Routes alone, our events play a crucial role in shaping the future of air services around the world. In 2013, around 100 CEOs and Tourism Ministers plus 300 senior executives of airlines, airports and tourism authorities attended our global event in Las Vegas. This is simply unrivalled in the aviation industry."

"The record attendance at our events highlights the growing importance of intelligent network planning - not just for airlines and airports, but also for tourism authorities, cities and regions. They increasingly throw their weight behind the development of new air services which are integral to their economic growth and development."  

Looking ahead, the Americas region will be a particular focus over the coming 14 months, with Routes Americas 2014 in San Salvador next month, World Routes 2014 in Chicago in September followed by Routes Americas in Denver in February 2015 - the first time that this regional event will take place in the US, the largest aviation market in the world.  

The importance of the Americas region was highlighted last December, when UBM Live and Flightglobal agreed that the Network USA event will be merged with Routes to create a single definitive event platform for the airline, airport and tourism communities from across the Americas.

However, Routes will continue to grow in all key aviation markets around the world this year with events in Asia, Europe, Africa and the CIS, in addition to North and South America. In total, six events are planned for 2014:

• Routes Americas: 23-25 February, San Salvador, El Salvador
• Routes Asia: 9-11 March, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
• Routes Europe: 6-8 April, Marseille, France
• Routes Africa: 22-24 June, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
• World Routes: 20-23 September, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Routes CIS: date and host to be announced very soon

Future events that have already been announced for 2015 include World Routes in Durban, South Africa; Routes Europe in Aberdeen, Scotland and Routes Asia in Kunming, China as well as Routes Americas in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Notes to Editors

More information on the recent appointments of Katie Bland and Nigel Mayes can be found here

More information on the merger with Network USA can be found here

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 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

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.