Taking place on Sunday 10th February 2013 and open to all attending delegates, The Routes Americas Strategy Summit, which is being held in association with ALTA, will open Routes Americas in Cartagena. The Strategy Summit 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 effecting commercial aviation across the entire Americas.

Attendees of the Summit, which is sponsored by Corporacion Quiport S.A., will hear opening remarks from Minister Sergio Diaz-Granados, Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism for Colombia and a keynote address from Alex de Gunten, Executive Director of ALTA. Four moderator led sessions covering various aviation related subjects affecting the Americas region will then take place.

Session one, entitled Let Battle Commence - Consolidation, Mergers and Alliances – who will be the victors? will discuss the outlook for the future and the benefits of scale as the airline industry across the Americas is changing shape due to some major mergers taking place. This session will also take a look at whether different alliance models are taking shape and which Alliances are winning and losing in the region? Panellists taking part in this session include Todd Scott, Global network Planning Manager for UPS.

During the second session; New Generation Aircraft.... How will they change today's route patterns?, moderator Mark Raggio, VP, Consulting Services – Americas for ASM will ask whether these aircraft open new markets for the Americas and whether they will help to revitalise the North American Market whilst also looking at the prospects in Caribbean and Latin America. Will reduced costs transfer straight to the bottom line of airlines? Will they strengthen or unravel hub development? The panel for this session will include Tomas Aragon, CCO of Eldorado Airport, Boeing’s Vice President Marketing and Value Analysis, Dr Fariba E Alamdari, Amaya Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Marketing Director of Airbus for Latin America and Faith Cigal, Network Planning Manager for Turkish Airlines.

Michael Bell, Partner at Spencer Stuart will moderate session three; Convergence in the industry - Low Cost vs Legacy Carriers? which addresses the fact that all airlines are having to lower costs, and asks how do carriers differentiate themselves? Which hybrid models are successful? The panel will also take a look at which international markets are attracting low cost carrier attention, how important consolidation or carriers working with other carriers in the LCC market segment is. What will the market look like in 5 years time? Mr Bell will be joined by panellists Nicolas Rhoads, SVP Commercial Planning for Aeroméxico, Fabricio Cojuc, VP Planning for Aeromar, Enrique Beltranena, CEO of Volaris and Juan Emilio Posada, CEO of Viva Colombia.

The fourth session; Is Regulation Strangling Our Industry? will question whether governments understand the true value of aviation and what regulation is required. How do airports and airlines encourage the liberalization of bilateral agreements? What are the implications of Visa restrictions and what is the implication of overseas taxation on the tourism industry in the Americas? Confirmed panellists for this final session of the day include Dr Mauricio Emboaba Moreira, Planning & Statistics Director for GOL, Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Chairperson of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, David Scowsill, President & Chief Executive Officer of the World Travel & Tourism Council, Brian Hedberg, Senior Air Services Negotiator at the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and Minister Ricky Skerritt, Minister for Tourism & International Transport, St Kitts & Nevis who will moderate this discussion.

The specially developed content and interactive format ensures that the Forum is a popular element of the event. Keep reading The HUB for further updates to the programme over the coming weeks and for more information and to register for Routes Americas 2013 Click here.