Aviation leaders unite in Aarhus to define regional air connectivity

Routes Europe, which is held in a different location each year, brings together airlines, airports and tourism authorities to drive European air service development and continue to fuel the region’s aviation market growth.

According to IATA, capacity is set to rise above its 2019 threshold for 2024 across the European region. Recognising the critical role of the air transport sector in supporting millions of jobs across the continent, Routes Europe is set to convene in Aarhus next week (22 – 24 April), bringing together more than 1,000 decision makers from airlines, airports, and destinations to define future air connectivity across the region.

Marking its 17th edition, the event will be attended by a record number of airlines. Vice presidents and heads of network planning from 100 of the region’s leading and fastest-growing airlines will engage in over 4,500 meetings with airport and destination representatives to identify new route opportunities.

Carriers in attendance include Air France, British Airways, easyJet, IAG, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Vueling and Wizz Air. The event has also seen confirmations from out of region carriers including Air Transat, Air Canada, Air India, AirAsia Group, American Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Fly Jinnah and WestJet.

This year’s event will be hosted by Aarhus Airport and Visit Aarhus. Aarhus Airport serves the Greater Aarhus metropolitan area which is the fifth-largest market in the Nordic region. Delegates attending Routes Europe 2024 will be able to experience the all-new Aarhus Airport boasting brand new terminal and an in-airport hotel.

The airport also offers rapid access to the centre of Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city, where visitors can experience cosmopolitan shopping boulevards, world-class museums and internationally award-winning tourist attractions.

As the Official Carrier of the event, SAS Scandinavian Airlines’ CEO – Anko Van Der Werff, will outline the ongoing transformation of SAS and the new path forward for the company during the conference programme. Consolidation, sustainability and operational stability are core themes for European airlines in 2024.

Managing Director of Airlines for Europe (A4E), Ourania Georgoutsakou, will discuss the changing dynamics of the European airline industry. Michael Stanton-Geddes, Director of Economics & Competition for ACI Europe, will examine what changes are required to ensure sustainable and competitive air connectivity.

Steven Small, director of Routes, said: “Route development has perhaps become more important than it has ever been, with airlines scrutinising opportunities more carefully than ever before. Routes Europe continues to play a vital role in this process, providing a meeting place for airline decision makers to negotiate new and existing air services with their airport and destination partners.”

Small added; “Over 1,000 decision makers from the route development community will be present in Aarhus. The negotiations that take place at the event will define future air connectivity across the region.”

Welcoming Routes Europe to the city of Aarhus, Lotta Sandsgaard, CEO of Aarhus Airport, said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring airline, airport and tourism strategists from around the world to our fantastic and fast-growing city, to showcase our destination to the most important decision-makers in the business. Aarhus is growing, thriving economically, it is a European hot-spot of development, we are becoming more international than ever before with soaring trade, investment and tourism. As Denmark’s fastest growing airport serving the Nordics’ fifth largest market, our capacity to facilitate expansion in Aarhus is second-to-none – which we are excited for airlines and all Routes Europe delegates to see.”