Routes Americas 2019

The route development forum for the Americas

Québec City, Canada
12 – 14 February 2019

Conference Programme

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

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    Opening Remarks

    Steven Small, Brand Director, Routes

    Routes' leader wecomes delegates, outlining more about why Routes is taking place in Quebec as well as what you can expect over the course of the event.

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    State of the Airline Industry in Latin America

    Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Executive Director & CEO, ALTA

    According to the latest forecasts from IATA, the future of the aviation industry in the Americas is promising. The Latin America and Caribbean region will grow by about 3.6 percent annually over the next two decades and by 2037 will carry 731 million passengers per year. That is an additional 371 million passengers annually compared with today. 

    This session will outline the latest news on the state of the industry in Latin America and Caribbean, including how the region could tackle their largest threats such as safety, infrastructure and the heavy taxes and charges imposed on aviation and air travel in many countries. 

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    YQB: A world class airport ready for the future

    Gaëtan Gagné, President and CEO, Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport

    Since its privatization in 2000, Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB) has tripled its traffic going from 643,000 passengers to 1.8 million in 2018. This was not achieved by chance and is rather the result of a strong focus on Passenger First®  and a $500 million investment program. With its new state-of-the-art international terminal and an innovative vision for the future, YQB intends to position itself as a major airport in Canada and is ready, more than ever, to deal with the global passenger traffic growth.

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    Transformation of the Global Aviation Industry - Revolutionary or Evolutionary Changes?

    Nawal Taneja, Aviation Business Strategist, Executive-In-Residence, Fisher College of Business

    What's next for global aviation? Will a new era of disruption create new norms in the industry and additional challenges? 

    One of the world's leading minds in aviation will share his views on the transformational forces on different sectors of the aviation industry; in specific airlines, airports, and aircraft manufacturers.

    With a career that spans 45 years in global aviation, Nawal Taneja has worked for and advised major airlines and related businesses worldwide, including serving as the president of a small airline that provided schedule and charter service with jet aircraft and the president of a research organisation that provided consulting services to the air transportation community throughout the world.

  • Mr. Ferio Pugliese, Senior Vice-President, Regional Markets and Government Relations for Air Canada, Skytrax’s Best International Airline in North America in 2018, will provide a keynote address. During his presentation, Mr. Pugliese will share insights into Air Canada’s strategy for future expansion in America and how its diverse product range including Air Canada Mainline, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express have provided the flexibility needed for the company to grow its global network. Mr. Pugliese will discuss Air Canada’s fleet replacement and its impacts on connecting passengers to destinations across North America and six inhabited continents. Finally, Mr. Pugliese will review the importance of remaining competitive in a regulatory environment.

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    Hear from the CEO - TAR Aerolíneas

    Ricardo Bastón, CEO, TAR Aerolíneas

    Hear directly from one of the leading figures in aviation on the airline’s major plans for the next few years. 

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    Special Address

    Geneviève Guilbault, Vice Premier, Québec

    Geneviève Guilbault is the Deputy Premier of the Province of Québec, Canada, and the Honorary President of Routes America 2019.

    She will officially welcome attendees to the event and provide an overview of the city and region, and their ambitions to grow aviation and traveller networks.

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    Connecting the Americas: What’s next for the region’s route ecosystem?

    A host of aviation markets across the Americas have long lived within the ecosystem of the US powerhouse so, with ongoing political and economic uncertainty, what does their future hold? With the threat of a potential global trade war looming large and political challenges remaining in some markets, the industry’s growth in the region remains under threat. Despite this, fast-growth markets continue to outpace some of their more established neighbours and need to ensure their development is not stymied.

    With President Trump’s hard-line trade policies, what effect could this have on airlines which fly within and to the US? Could the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement affect new and existing routes? Do airlines and airports anticipate growth or shifts in traffic as a result of these deals, and where will new agreements be formed? 

    Political shifts in Latin America could also have significant impacts on the regional market. Brazil’s new far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro is pushing ahead with a hard-line agenda, while Mexico’s new leftist president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has already put the brakes on a $13.3bn airport project in the country’s capital.

    We will bring together carriers from across the Americas to outline what the future skies across the region will look like, and examine the key industry and political requirements to create a flourishing route development industry.

Wednesday, 13 February 2019

Thursday, 14 February 2019

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    How Alibaba’s technology is revolutionising the online travel market

    Raphael Lanfant, Head of Travel partnerships, Alibaba Group North America

    Fliggy is an online travel agent platform owned by Alibaba, providing plane tickets, hotel booking services, tour guide services, visa application and vacation packages to 200 million registered users. Airlines, airports, destinations and other tourism stakeholders have successfully partnered with Fliggy to influence Chinese travellers through key digital and social channels.

    Singapore Airlines, Finnair, Jetstar, American Airlines and Turkish Airlines are some of the carriers that have partnered with Fliggy allowing members to use mileage points earned by their customers at either company, giving Chinese travellers greater flexibility and more opportunities to receive extra perks and benefits as they take to the air.

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    Keynote Address – The future of aircraft technology

    Ashish Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Zunum Aero

    Over the past decade, there has been a seismic shift in the way airports and airlines operate with new business models coming to the fore.

    Emerging technologies are changing the face of aviation and continue to offer a glimpse of what the industry of tomorrow could look like. Aircraft could be capable of double current speeds, operating at half the cost with minimal environmental impact. 

    This is the focus of Zunum Aero, aiming to reshape the regional air travel market with hybrid electrical aircraft. 

    Backed by Boeing HorizonX and JetBlue Technology Ventures, Zunum Aero has been working on a range of hybrid electric regional aircraft since 2013. 

    In this session CEO and founder Ashish Kumar speaks about the next great developments in the field of electric propulsion and the vision to eliminate all short-haul emissions by 2040.   

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    Biometrics, smart tech, innovation…

    How will the aviation industry integrate emerging tech such as biometrics into their operation?

    Elizabeth Krimmel, Senior Manager, Deloitte

    New technologies are disrupting and transforming the air travel experience as we know it today. Airports and their stakeholders are rapidly adopting innovative capabilities such as biometrics to enhance operational efficiency and improve the passenger experience. But, they should do so deliberately and with a carefully crafted strategy to future proof systems to absorb technology changes and advancements and avoid pitfalls that can put project success at risk. During this session, we will discuss the key considerations that airports, airlines, and their stakeholders should examine prior to integrating new technologies into their operation.

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    Disruptive innovation: How Hopper aims to reshape the travel market

    Dakota Smith, Head of Growth and Business, Hopper

    The travel market is increasingly sophisticated and offers ever greater choice for consumers, and new ways for airlines to reach their market. Find out how Hopper's prediction algorithm aims to change the way travellers book flights. 

* Please note like all events, the programme is subject to change.