Routes Europe to Open to Record Numbers in Budapest

Manchester, England (ots/PRNewswire) -

Over 1,000 industry decision makers to meet to discuss the future
of the region's air services

Routes Europe, now in its 8th year, will welcome a record number
of attendees when the 2013 event opens in Budapest in four days time.
The event will be hosted by Budapest Airport, supported by Hungarian
Tourism, at the SYMA Conference Venue, Hungary's newest and most
modern, state-of-the-art multifunctional facility.

Over 275 airline delegates, representing over 115 leading airlines
from across the European region and beyond, will be represented at
Routes Europe, which will take place from 12-14 May. With a 60% plus
growth in airline delegate numbers since last year's event in
Tallinn, Estonia, this makes Routes Europe 2013 the largest European
route development event ever.

The event will see attendance from all of the region's low cost
carriers (Ryanair, easyJet, Norwegian, Wizz Air, Germanwings,
Vueling, Volotea and Transavia) along with the largest number of full
service carriers ever to attend Routes Europe with registrations
received from Lufthansa, British Airways, Iberia, Air France, Swiss,
Austrian Airlines, SAS, Czech Airlines and Alitalia.

From further afield all four of the Middle Eastern major carriers
(Etihad, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Oman Air) will attend the event
along with American Airlines, Air Transat and China Southern. Many of
the airlines in attendance will include senior delegations such as
Wizz Air, Nasair, SkyWork Airlines and Aer Arann whose CEOs will all
be in Budapest for this unrivalled event. The event will also include
seven Route Exchange Airline Briefings from Lufthansa, Germanwings,
easyJet, HOP!/Air France, Air Nostrum, SkyWork and Darwin Airline.
These briefings, given by senior network planners, are an opportunity
for attending airports to gain an overview of the carriers, allowing
them to view, first-hand, what information the airline requires from
the airports when making route proposals.

In addition to the meetings taking place at Routes Europe a panel
of leading industry experts will take part in a number of moderator
led discussions during the Strategy Summit which will open the event
on Sunday 12th May. These sessions will address issues affecting
aviation and route development across the region including what
effect the EU freeze on ETS will likely have on traffic from the US
and China into the EU, Survival of the Fittest - Consolidation,
Mergers & Alliances and The Future Evolution of the LCC Business
Model. Highlights of the Summit will include a keynote address from
Jozsef Varadi. CEO of Wizz Air and a keynote presentation from Mr
Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, Minister of Commerce, Industry & Tourism for
Cyprus entitled Cyprus - What Happens Next during which, attendees
will hear about the country's future plans.

"The year on year growth of Routes Europe has surpassed even our
own expectations," said David Stroud, Executive Vice President,
Routes continuing: "We are pleased, once again, to be welcoming
record numbers of delegates to the event and that these delegates are
of such a high calibre shows that Routes Europe is the region's
leading network development event where the future of air service for
the region will be shaped for years to come."

Jost Lammers, CEO of Budapest Airport commented: "Budapest Airport
is delighted to welcome all delegates attending the Routes Europe
Conference to this great city. This is an extremely good opportunity
for us to demonstrate the massive potential for route development in
the market for existing and new airlines. My team and I are ready to
hold many meetings with delegates and look forward to celebrating the
beauty of our city throughout the conference whilst giving a
fantastic airport experience for your return journey, which we trust
will help convince you to put Budapest and Hungary on your network
map."

Gergely Horvath, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Hungarian
Tourism Plc. added: "To be able to react to the demands of the
steadily changing world we strive to diversify our activities: we
look for new opportunities and markets to be targeted. Therefore, in
addition to the Arabic, Russian, and Chinese markets, where we have
already been present, we are mapping the touristic opportunities in
other Eastern developing countries. In order to stimulate air traffic
towards Hungary, it is necessary to develop the air accessibility of
our country from the new potential emerging markets. As a joint
effort of Hungarian Tourism Plc. and Budapest Airport Plc., Routes
Europe is a great opportunity to introduce the splendours of Budapest
and Hungary to nearly 1,000 airline and airport decision makers and
help encourage the opening of new routes to Hungary."

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 [http://www.asm%E2%80%90global.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

Use the hashtag #RoutesEurope

ots Originaltext: UBM Live Routes Ltd
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For further press information please contact: Victoria Jones, PR
Executive, Routes, T: +44(0)161-234-2730, E: pr@routesonline.com