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WORLD ROUTES 2016
 

In 2016 World Routes will return to China. Hosted by Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, we would like to invite you join the face-to-face meetings that shape the worlds future air services, and present your organisation with the perfect platform to meet with your top targets.

Accompanied by an Exhibition “Networking Village”, World Routes Strategy Summit, Route Exchange Briefings and industry renowned social functions, the event offers a complete package, where decision makers from across the globe discuss the industry’s future and debate the hottest issues facing the market.

WORLD ROUTES 2014

The attendee list for World Routes is now available on Routesonline.com and with only 5 months to go until the event opens in Chicago, registrations are flooding in from all corners of the globe. 

World Routes, which is the essential global gathering for aviation organisations from across all continents and countries, brings together the largest range of airlines, airports, tourism authorities and civil aviation authorities.

Network Planners and other key decision makers from a wide range of carriers will attend this year’s event which will take place in Chicago, 20-23 September 2014. The 20th World Route Development Forum will be the largest Routes event to date with an expected 3,000 high profile delegates in attendance. 

Airlines that have registered this week include: Bangkok Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Airline4, TACV, Saudi Cargo and Omni Air International. The most recent airports to register for World Routes include: Radom Airport, Melbourne Airport, Glasgow Airport, Prestwick Airport, Cambridge International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport, Rio de Janeiro International Airport and San Diego International Airport (SDCRAA). Click here for the most up to date attendee list.

Many notable national carriers have already confirmed their attendance by registering early including: Air France, Air India, American Airlines, British Airways, Hainan Airlines, Iberia, Japan Airlines, South African Airways and Turkish Airlines, whilst the 3 major carriers from the Middle East (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways) have also registered early.

2014 will see World Routes return to the US for the second year in a row after last year’s event, which was the first time any Routes event had taken place in the country.  The 20th anniversary event, which will be co-hosted by the City of Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) and Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism organisation, will be held at McCormick Place, the largest convention facility in the Western Hemisphere.  With the most diverse economy in the United States, and home to several of the aviation industry’s leading companies, Chicago makes the perfect home for the 20th World Route Development Forum.

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ROUTES AFRICA

This week has seen confirmation from two further Airline CEOs that they will take part in the Routes Africa Strategy Summit which will open this year’s Routes Africa event at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Monwabisi Kalawe, CEO of South African Airways and Cornwell Muleya, CEO of Air Uganda have both agreed to participate in the Strategy Summit along with Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines who will give the keynote address.

Routes Africa is the only network planning forum for the African region and the 9thRoutes Africa will take place in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe on22-24 June 2014 hosted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe. 

Around 300 key decision makers from across Africa and beyond are expected to gather at the annual event in 2014 to discuss air service development. The event attracts a wide range of carriers interested in developing air routes in Africa with almost 30 carriers already registered.

Along with Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways and Air Uganda, carriers from the region who have so far confirmed their attendance at the event include Air Zimbabwe, Fastjet, Air Seychelles, Comair, Rwandair, Air Burkina and Arik Air. In addition many out of region carriers have signed up to attend with registrations received, so far, from American Airlines, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways Cargo, Vueling, Iberia, Emirates and Turkish Airlines amongst others. Click here for a complete and up to date list of airline attendees.

UGANDA CONFERENCE FOR THE AIRLINE AND AIRPORT INDUSTRY


ROUTES AFRICA AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED!
 
Jul 08, 2013


Currently Routes Africa is ongoing in Kampala, Uganda. Last night during an impressive networking evening which took place on the stunning Lakeside Pool Lawns of the Speke Resort, which sits right on Lake Victoria, Uganda, Kilimanjaro International Airport was announced as winner of the African heat of this year’s Routes Airport Marketing Awards. Over 300 aviation professionals were gathered to witness the presentation of the awards and to take part in the 8th Routes Africa – the largest route development event for the entire African region, which this year is hosted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda and Entebbe International Airport.

“This has been one of the most amazing evenings for us at Kilimanjaro International Airport to win this award,” said Christine Mwakatobe, Business Development Manager, Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company, after collecting the award, continuing: “We would like to thank all of the airlines that serve the airport for voting for us in this process and we are pledging our commitment that we will keep working hand- in-hand with all of our partners. Thank you for trusting in us and believing in us and giving us this wonderful opportunity to show the rest of Africa what we are doing at Kilimanjaro International Airport.”

The Routes Airport Marketing Awards have become synonymous with recognizing and rewarding the highest standards of marketing activities undertaken by airports. The 2013 awards will see a number of innovations including taking a blended approach to the nomination process, meaning the final nominees will include a number of airports who will be shortlisted using our online voting form together with a number of airports who have been selected by a panel of industry experts drawn from the airline network planning community. This year the awards were split into two categories based on the size of the airport and also a new tourism award for best destination marketing campaign by a tourism authority.

“We would like to congratulate all of the winners and highly commended airports and tourism authorities in this regional heat of the 2013 awards. Kilimanjaro International Airport has delivered true route development results,” said Nigel Mayes VP Commercial – Routes, UBM Live explaining: “Launching three new international airlines, Qatar Airways, Kenya Airways and Turkish Airlines, in the last year is a fantastic achievement along with delivering on a clear air service development strategy which was set out three years ago.”

Kilimanjaro were also named as the winner from the Under 4 Million Passengers category with Nairobi - Jomo Kenyatta International Airport ranked top from the Over 4 Million Passengers category and the Destination Marketing Award went to Seychelles Tourism Board.

The full list of companies shortlisted under each award category were as follows:

Over 4 Million Passengers 
Nairobi - Jomo Kenyatta International Airport – Winner
Casablanca - Mohammed V International Airport – Highly Commended Addis Ababa - Bole International Airport
Algiers - Houari Boumediene Airport
Cairo International Airport

Under 4 Million Passengers 
Kilimanjaro International Airport – Winner & Overall Winner
Dar es Salaam - Julius Nyerere International Airport – Highly Commended Accra - Kotoka International Airport
Luanda - Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
Maputo International Airport

Destination Marketing Award 
Seychelles Tourism Board - Winner
Tourism KwaZulu-Natal – Highly Commended Mozambique Tourism Authority
Zambia Tourism Board
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority

As overall winner of this regional heat, Kilimanjaro International Airport will be automatically shortlisted for the World Routes Airport Marketing Awards which will take place at the event in Las Vegas, 5-8 October 2013.

Kilimanjaro join San Diego International Airport, Changi Airport Group and Munich Airport who were announced as overall winners of the Americas, Asia and Europe heats respectively, earlier in the year.

AIR CANADA HOSTS STAR ALLIANCE CEOs FOR STRATEGY MEETING IN VANCOUVER 
 

Friday June 8th 2012 - Air Canada


Air Canada hosted the chief executives of more than 20 Star Alliance member airlines today in Vancouver for the annual Star Alliance strategy meeting. The event marked the 15th anniversary of the world's first and most comprehensive airline alliance, founded by Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, THAI and United Airlines in 1997. The alliance now encompasses 25 of the world's leading airlines.
 
"We are pleased to host the chief executives of our Star Alliance partners in Vancouver for this annual forum to discuss the strategy for Star Alliance going forward," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada. 

"Star Alliance was founded on the principle of offering customers the reach of a global network beyond what any single carrier is able to do on its own, and rewarding our respective customers' loyalty by providing reciprocal privileges across the world's leading airlines. Working together to meet our customers' international travel needs has become our hallmark, one that we continue to build as we look for ways to simplify our customers' travel experience and earn their loyalty." 
 
Mark Schwab, CEO of Star Alliance, said: "While modern technology has greatly improved global communications in the business world, the feedback we receive from our customers confirms our own belief that face-to-face meetings will never be replaced by 'virtual' ones. These regular meetings of our top executives ensure that our strategy continues to meet the changing needs of our customers, even as Star Alliance itself celebrates its 15th anniversary year." 

Star Alliance members

Adria Airways
Aegean Airlines
Air Canada
Air China
Air New Zealand
ANA
Asiana Airlines
Austrian
Blue1
Brussels Airlines
Croatia Airlines
EGYPTAIR
Ethiopian Airlines
LOT Polish Airlines
Lufthansa
Scandinavian Airlines
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
SWISS
TAM Airlines
TAP Portugal
Turkish Airlines
THAI
United
US Airways
 
Avianca-TACA, Copa Airlines, EVA Air and Shenzhen Airlines have been announced as future members. 

NEWS RELEASE
March 1, 2012
Vancouver Island Airport recognized as one of the world’s top brands

The Comox Valley Airport has been named one of the world’s most effective rebrands in the eighth annual REBRAND 100® Global Awards. This award is the highest recognition for excellence in brand repositioning, and is the first and most-respected global program of its kind.

“Many projects had big ideas expressed elegantly through all methods of engagement—language, visuals, sound, etc.” said Shashi Caan, Founding Principal, The Collective US and UK and 2012 juror.

Each year, an international and multidisciplinary mix of industry experts convenes to jury this annual competition. They consider “before” and “after” representations of brand transformations with written summaries and supporting elements that showcase integration of social media and mobile engagement.
 
The Comox Valley Airport’s corporate rebrand was launched in July 2011 and embodies its world-class service and local charm, bringing to life the unique stories of travelers to the area.  The brand which has received Merit level recognition as one of the top 100 global rebrands, now serves as a platform for all marketing and communications activities for the airport.

“A strong and well defined brand supports our new vision of developing and expanding our scheduled air services network and we are delighted that our model has been recognized internationally,” said CEO Shirley de Silva.  “YQQ’s brand provides us with the powerful platform we need to effectively grow our business and this award represents our relentless pursuit to provide the highest level of service in all that we do.  We are so proud that our efforts have resulted in a brand is globally competitive.” 

A small consulting firm or brand had as much opportunity to be selected as did global organizations with exponentially greater budgets since the name and size of the brand strategists are hidden from jurors during their review process. Emphasis was on executed strategy that made an emotional connection and met the stated objectives and needs of the identified target audience and prospects.

“More than 60 participants were consulted as part of YQQ’s brand development process through in-depth interviews, focus groups and facilitated sessions,” explained Christianne Wile, Manager of Marketing and Public Communications. “We know there is a lot of pride and ownership felt for YQQ among the community and we felt it was important to reflect the key attributes that distinguish and link our airport to the Comox Valley.”

Wile says YQQ has now successfully incorporated its brand into all aspects of its operations from its strategic marketing campaign, signage, staff and volunteer uniforms, to the overall look and feel of the terminal building and the corporate materials used to conduct its business.

The 2012 REBRAND winners represented over 28 countries and 34 industries. They ranged from Dubai Airports, One Foundation from Global Ethics Ltd, Pfizer, National Music Centre of Canada, Merck Millipore, and Cisco. In addition to in-house teams, small agencies, and representatives of multinational corporations and non-profits, competing firms included Interbrand, SNK, Lippincott, Siegel+Gale, and Brandient.

About the Comox Valley Airport
The Comox Valley Airport is centrally located on the central east coast of Vancouver Island and serves a population base of nearly 320,000 residents. It is the second largest airport on Vancouver Island and processed 308,937 passengers in 2011. Offering friendly, personalized service and year-round direct flights to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, YQQ also provides seasonal chartered flights for Vancouver Island residents direct from Comox to Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. With the ability to access numerous domestic and international destinations through our airlines and their partners, YQQ is the best and most convenient entry point into central Vancouver Island.

About REBRAND™ and the REBRAND 100® Global Awards:
REBRAND™ is the world's leading resource for effective brand transformations. The REBRAND 100 Global Awards is the first and most respected recognition for repositioned brands. Featured in such media as The Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, various magazines and books, the annual competition has entry deadlines in late September. The full 2012 winners showcase is at www.rebrand.com.

Media Contacts:
Shirley de Silva, Christianne Wile
Comox Valley Airport
250-890-0829 ext. 224
sdesilva@comoxairport.com
cwile@comoxairport.com
 
Andrea Walker
REBRAND™
401.277.4877
media@rebrand.co