Routes Europe Opens in Marseille

Record attendance expected at continent's largest route development event 

MANCHESTER, England, April 3, 2014 /CNW/ - The 9th Routes Europe, the largest route development event for the European region, will open this weekend in Marseille, France.  

This year the event expects a record attendance of over 1,100 aviation professionals from airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss new air services to, from and within the entire European region. The event, which takes place on 6-8 April, will be hosted by Marseille-Provence Airport, the gateway to the South of France. It attracts the highest level of senior decision makers, representing over 114 airlines (more than at any previous Routes Europe event), 340 airports and 30 tourism authorities.  

In addition to around 6,000 Face-to-Face meetings to discuss air services taking place at the event, Routes Europe will open with the hard hitting Strategy Summit, which will include a keynote address from Frédéric Gagey, Chairman & CEO of Air France.  

Katie Bland, Director Routes at UBM Live said: "Europe is one of the largest and most advanced aviation markets in the world. You might see more impressive growth rates elsewhere, but the European Union is the world's largest and probably most interconnected economy, and the region boasts over 500 million affluent consumers. That explains the strong interests and high attendance we see at Routes Europe this year."

Pierre Régis, Managing Director, Marseille-Provence Airport added: "Marseille-Provence Airport and its partners are honoured and proud to welcome the Routes Europe 2014 Congress. Marseille-Provence Airport is the gateway to the South of France - Combining Mediterranean mildness with Provence's quality of life, the Marseille-Provence catchment area attracts some 30 million tourists every year."

"Marseille was voted No. 2 'Place to Go this Year' in 2013 by the New York Times," continued Mr. Régis: "The city was founded over 2,600 years ago and is the 2nd city in France and after several years of renovation work and urban investments, rarely equalled in Europe, the New Marseille is finally being unveiled at the heart Provence. That's the perfect timing to welcome this main event, Bienvenue!"

Participating airlines include Europe's leading network carriers, such as Air France, British Airways, Iberia, Lufthansa and Alitalia, as well as all major European low-cost carriers. In addition, numerous leading non-European airlines will attend the event to discuss air services to and from Europe, including American Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Turkish Airlines, S7 Airlines and WestJet.  

Marseille-Provence Airport is an important economic player, but it is also a vector for the development of tourism and business throughout the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis. In the space of 10 years, passenger traffic at mp Airport has increased by 54%, constituting the strongest growth in volume among French airports (excluding Parisian airports) with an additional 3 million passengers. Marseille has the largest network of long-haul flights in France after Paris to destinations including New York, Reunion Island, Mayotte, Madagascar, Dakar, Punta Cana, Montreal and Toronto.

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 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.

SOURCE: UBM Live Routes Ltd

Victoria Jones, PR Executive, Routes, T: [phone], E: [email protected]