The annual World Routes air service development forum has been transferred from Chengdu, China to the city of Barcelona, the company said.
World Routes brings together airlines, airports and their stakeholders to discuss future global air services.
As the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia, Barcelona is the centre of one of Spain´s wealthiest areas. Last year Catalan exports grew by 6.1 percent to EUR63.8 billion (25.5 percent of total Spanish exports) and foreign investment increased by 58 percent to EUR4.8 billion.
The city´s success has led to high demand for air services. During the last ten years Barcelona´s international departure capacity has risen from 9.6 million seats to 19 million seats, buoyed by the growth of low-cost carriers such as easyJet, Norwegian, Ryanair and local carrier Vueling. The airport is now the 10th busiest in Europe, handling a record-breaking 39.7 million passengers in 2015 (5.7 percent more than 2014).
World Routes 2017 is expected to draw more than 3,000 aviation professionals from 300 airlines, 700 airports and 130 tourism authorities that will see what Barcelona has to offer.
Routes events are forums dedicated to the development of new air services. Five regional route development forums are held between February and July in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa/Middle East and Silk Road/Russian Commonwealth, and the flagship World Routes event takes place in September.
