Africa Gears up for Air Service Development Forum

Posted 22/06/2010 - Viewed 316 time(s)

AFRICA GEARS UP FOR AIR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT FORUM

Manchester, 6 May 2010

 

As the start of Routes Africa comes into sight, the region's air service industry is gearing up for the

fifth annual route development networking forum, this year hosted by Sikhuphe International

Airport in Swaziland from the 30th May - 1st June.

 

Airline registrations are at the highest level since Routes launched its first Routes Africa event, with

carriers including South African Airways, South African Express, Kenya Airways, Gabon Airlines,

Malaysian Airlines, Egypt Air and Spanair already registered. Nigel Mayes, Routes Managing Director,

commented:

 

"It is interesting to see the trend amongst airlines shifting from those within the region itself, to

include those from outside of the area wishing to set up links, like Spanair for example who are

coming to target African airports, to achieve the carrier's business objectives of expanding its air

service network in this region."

 

The forum will include all the elements that delegates have come to expect from a Routes event,

including formal and informal networking opportunities, The Routes Africa Strategy Forum and

Route Exchange. There will also be workshops hosted by ASM on Sunday 30th May.

 

The free ASM workshops, for airport delegates only, will see representatives from ASM presenting

their conclusions on the rise and rise of the Gulf carriers into Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa.

Gordon Bevan, ASM's Vice President Consulting Asia Pacific & Indian Ocean, explained:

 

"As the world's leading route development company, ASM is more than qualified to assess the

growth and impact that the Gulf carriers have had on the African air services market. The workshops

follow on from previous successful route development workshops we held at Routes Africa in recent

years.

 

"The first workshop will show how the African market has traditionally used European hubs to

access connectivity with the world, but this has shifted to the Gulf hubs for a number of reasons. We

shall explore the reasons, the impact on traffic numbers and the yield that these airlines are

extracting from the market."

 

The second workshop, also held on the Sunday, will look into the rise of Arabian Gulf hub operations

accessing the Chinese market as a direct result of the increased trade links between the two regions.

 

This is a timely topic for airlines seeking to access Africa and China, and the aim is to offer African

airport managers a plan for capitalising on this trend and thereby secure further revenue streams for

the airport operator.

 

To find out more about the event, and to register to attend, visit www.routesonline.com

- Ends -

Notes to Editors

About Routes

World Routes - The World Route Development Forum - is the world renowned annual airline and airport networking event. Routes facilitates and encourages the role of airports in the development of air services through organising global and region specific airline/airport networking forums.

This year's World Route Development Forum will take place in Vancouver, Canada, 19th-21st September.

Routes Regional events include Routes Americas, Routes Asia, Routes Europe, Routes Africa and Routes CIS.

Routes was founded in 1995 by Chairman Mike Howarth as part of the Manchester UK-based ASM Ltd., a consultancy specialising in the field of route development for airports. www.asm-global.com.

Both companies are now subsidiaries of RDG -The Route Development Group - which is the leading global solutions provider in the strategically important 'route development' sector of air transport.

www.routedevgroup.com

In April 2007, Routes also won the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2007. The award, for outstanding business performance and commercial success, recognised Routes' sustained contribution to aviation route development through its innovative Regional and World Route Development Forums.

 

The Route Development Group (RDG)

T: +44 (0)161 234 2711

E: pr@routesonline.com

113-115 Portland Street

Manchester M1 6DW

 

For further press information please contact Nadine Wenn at: