Welcome introduction from Routes. Hear what you can expect over the course of the event.
Conference Programme
Bringing together high-profile speakers and senior leaders from the route development and aviation industries.
Comprising keynote interviews, panel discussions, airline briefings and best practice workshops, the Routes Europe 2023 conference programme will provide you with exclusive insight. Airline CEOs and aviation heavyweights will look at the issues that will forever change the industry landscape.
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Routes Europe 2023 Conference Sponsor
Platinum Sponsor
Tuesday, 9 May 2023
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Opening Remarks
Hear more about why Routes Europe 2023 is taking place in Lodz
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Keynote Address
State of the Airport Industry
Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI Europe (Airports Council International)
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Fireside Chat
State of the Airline Industry
Moderator: Dave Stroud, Managing Director Strategy and Consulting, ASM
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Moderator: David Casey, Editor-in-Chief, Routes
Latvian carrier airBaltic flies to more than 70 destinations, employing over 2300 staff. Alongside its bases in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, the airline expanded outside its Baltics heartland during 2022 with the launch of a new base in Tampere, Finland.
Although Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presented serious challenges, the carrier enjoyed a positive end to 2022, carrying 3.3 million passengers during the year—up by 105% on the previous 12 months. airBaltic has a fleet of 41 Airbus A220-300s and this summer season, the airline is launching its highest-ever number of new routes in a single reason – 20 new routes from Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, and Tampere.
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Fireside Chat: Finnair’s new strategy
Prior to the pandemic, Finnair’s business model focused on connecting Europe and Asia using the shorter northern route over Russia.
The carrier temporarily altered the strategy in response to COVID travel restrictions—focusing on North America—but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent closure of Russian airspace then rendered many Asian routes financially unviable.
Hear how the airline is altering its strategy to create a geographically more balanced network connecting its Helsinki hub to Asia, India and the Middle East, and North America.
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CEO Keynote Interview: Air Serbia
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Sustainability: Multimodality as an alternative to short-haul flights
A report commissioned by Greenpeace in 2021 concluded that a third of the busiest short-haul flights in Europe have train alternatives of under six hours–the organization called for a ban on domestic and short-haul flights where an alternative under six hours exists.
Air France and French rail operator SNCF have been intensifying their cooperation and last year launched a fully digital Train+Air product which allows passengers to make one reservation across train and air legs of their journey.
France is far from alone in looking into the potential for rail and air to work together rather than in competition: the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the European Union Agency for Railways signed a memorandum of cooperation establishing regular dialogue between the two in a bid to better share information, knowledge and experience in three areas–safety, big data and sustainability.
- Can rail operators and airlines–traditionally more competitors than partners–really work together to help cut emissions?
- Which carriers are seeking out intermodal cooperation agreements?
- Is the emissions reduction impact of transferring some routes to rail sufficient?
- What does the future hold for some short-haul routes?
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Has my airport catchment area changed?
Aidan Mooney, Vice President Consulting, ASM Global Route Development
Using ASM’s Airport Catchment Analyser, this short briefing will show how you can examine your airports catchment area and any changes in it’s behaviour as the industry returns to a more normal programme of flying.
Wednesday, 10 May 2023
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Keynote Address
ATM future challenges at the airports
Marcin Wilkowski, Deputy Director of the Operations Bureau, Polish Air Navigation Services Agency
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Panel Discussion: Predictions for Europe’s aviation market
Europe’s aviation industry has altered considerably over the past decade and is continuing to evolve as it builds back from the damaging effects of the pandemic and the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which continues to have huge socioeconomic effects on all aspects of the European economy.
While the recovery will continue to strengthen in 2023, with total traffic expected to reach 92% of pre-pandemic levels, the prospects in the short-term are positive as demand remains high. But what is the outlook for the region beyond the immediate future?
This session will explore the changes that could happen over the next years, looking at how changing business models, potential consolidation, new aircraft fleet, and sustainability considerations will alter the landscape as we know it.
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Panel Discussion: The rise of long-haul narrowbody flights
The advent of longer-range narrowbodies is allowing operators to get ever more creative with their network strategies, opening new flight options and changing the economics on thinner routes.
The lower capacity and operational efficiencies of the Airbus A321LR and Boeing 737 Max is already allowing carriers to serve city pairs with lower demand, where existing aircraft could not be operated in a commercially sustainable way.
The introduction of the A321XLR will go even further, providing airlines the capability to serve even longer routes, such as transatlantic flights into Central Europe from New York.
- How are long-range narrowbodies changing long-haul economics?
- What will the growth of such aircraft mean for hubs?
- What opportunities are there for secondary European cities?
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Fireside Chat
LOT Polish Airlines
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Panel Discussion: Europe’s low-cost market
Europe’s LCCs carriers have increased their market share considerably in recent years, bouncing back far quicker post-COVID than many network carriers.
And although economies across the continent may be experiencing weakness, this does not appear to be dampening consumers’ desire to fly, with each LCC forecasting strong demand and yields for the peak summer season.
But what are the longer-term prospects for Europe’s LCCs? This session will bring together industry leaders in the region for a wide-ranging debate on the future of the sector.
- How are each responding to the intense competitive landscape?
- Where are the biggest growth markets?
- Will consolidation be on the agenda?
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Case Study by Kyiv Boryspil Airport
Ukrainian Market Status and Opportunities
Oleksiy Dubrevskyy, Chief Executive Officer, Kyiv Boryspil Airport
Kyiv-Borypisl Airport (KBP) is the main air gateway to Ukraine. In 2021 it accommodated more than 60% of all passengers arriving or departing Ukraine by air and more than 80% of air cargo. Ongoing war halted air traffic for a moment, but the Ukrainian market is full of opportunities in the future.
Oleksiy will focus on several key points in this case study:
- Structure of the Ukrainian air transportation market before the war
- Current challenges and airport infrastructure maintenance in anticipation of the future growth
- Insights and main drivers of the market rebound.
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Panel Discussion
Destination marketing in the MICE industry and cooperation with airlines
Face-to-face meetings and events play an integral role in bolstering cities, regional and national economy and key business sectors. Choosing the destination for the event is one of the most crucial elements of the event planning process. There are many factors that determine the attractiveness of a destination to meeting and event planners, but infrastructure and accessibility are perhaps the most important.
- Is Poland attractive as a destination for meetings and events?
- What aspects are important for holding in-person event?
- In what way may the airlines help MICE planners with attracting events to their destination?
- What opportunities are there for secondary cities?
- Carbon footprint in meeting industry – how to reduce it?
Thursday, 11 May 2023
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Keynote Address
LCCs and competition regulations in Europe
Maciej Fornalczyk, General Partner, COMPER Fornalczyk i Wspólnicy
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Airline Briefing
Pegasus Airlines
Emre Pekesen, Senior Vice President Sales & Network Planning, Pegasus Airlines
* Please note like all events, the programme is subject to change.
Speakers
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Martin Gauss
President & CEO, airBaltic -
Jiří Marek
Chief Executive Officer, Air Serbia -
Anna Midera
Chief Executive Officer, Lodz Airport -
Aaron McGarvey
Head of Network Strategy and Development, Finnair -
Olivier Jankovec
Director General, ACI Europe (Airports Council International) -
Rafael Schvartzman
Regional Vice President, Europe, IATA