The aviation industry will gather
in Las Vegas next week (Feb. 14-16) at the 10th annual
Routes Americas conference to plan new flights in North and South
America.
Routes Americas brings together
airlines, airports and tourism authorities to develop new air
services. It moves to a new city every year to highlight the diverse
aviation markets across the Americas. The Las Vegas event
will be the largest to date with 820 delegates taking part in 2,700
meetings.
Nearly half of Las
Vegas' 42.9 million annual visitors travel by air and the
airport generates $30 billion in local economic impact. The city
held more than 21,000 meetings, trade shows and conventions in 2016
which supported 65,000 jobs.
McCarran International Airport and Las
Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) will host Routes
Americas 2017. The leading airlines that will attend include American Airlines, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Delta Air Lines, jetBlue, Latam and
United Airlines. Around 100 airlines, 260 airports and 40 tourism
authorities are expected in total.
The latest issues and challenges facing
the aviation industry will be debated at the event's Strategy Summit.
The high profile speakers include Brian Hedberg, director of the
Office of International Aviation at the U.S. Department of
Transport; Roger Dow, president and CEO of U.S. Travel
Association; and Peter Cerdá, regional vice president of
International Air Transport Association.
This will be the second time that
LVCVA and McCarran International Airport have brought a Routes
event to the city. Las Vegas gained more than 120 weekly flights
with an estimated annual economic impact of $440 million in
direct visitor spending in the year after the event.
"The U.S. aviation market is the
busiest in the world and it is expected to grow to 904 million
passengers a year by 2025," said Steven Small, brand
director of Routes.
The conference will be held at
ARIA Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.
