At a press conference held in Bergen, Norway, senior decision makers from Routes and Avinor announced that the 15th European route development forum will be held in the city in 2020.
Having successfully bid to host the event, airport operator Avinor and their partners will be bringing Routes Europe to Norway for the first time.
As the main stage for Europe’s leading airline decision makers in 2020, 1,200 attendees are expected to attend the distinguished event.
“Routes Europe is one of the most important conferences for route developers from airlines all over the region and further afield, allowing decision makers to get together and discuss new opportunities in growing the continent’s connectivity,” commented Jasper Spruit, vice president of traffic development at Avinor.
Avinor are responsible for Norway’s 45 state-owned airports but describe Bergen as “a stand-out example of a regional airport with potential for network development”.
“With a new terminal opened in August 2017, Bergen Airport is ready for more route development,” added Spruit.
One reason why Bergen was a strong contender for hosting the event is due to its ever-growing popularity as a destination, for both domestic and international markets.
This year has seen international passengers from Bergen grow by three per cent, with 1.91 million people flying on non-domestic routes in the first nine months of the year.
The Routes Europe conference will be held on April 27th-29th 2020 in Grieghallen in Bergen and is a partnership between Avinor, Fjord Norway, Innovation Norway, Visit Bergen, the City of Bergen, Grieghallen and Hordaland county municipality.
Steven Small, brand director, Routes, said: “We are very excited to be working with Avinor to bring Routes Europe to Bergen in 2020.
“Avinor produced a compelling bid to host Routes Europe, full of fresh ideas which we believe our community will enjoy and appreciate.
“With an already impressive European network and as the gateway to the stunning Norwegian Fjords, plus a compact, walkable city centre, Bergen offers an outstanding opportunity to showcase Norway’s incredible visitor offer to the route development community.
“We are sure that our delegates will enjoy Bergen’s vibrancy and we can’t wait to see how Routes Europe 2020 will unfold.”