300 Airlines & Airports to Meet in Mumbai to Discuss Air Services in Asia

AsiaNet 52295

MANCHESTER, England, Mar. 4, 2013/ PRN=KYODO JBN/--

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

region

    The 11th 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 17th 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 1st 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