Tag Archives: Karin Butot

This year’s Arabian Travel Market witnessed over 40 airlines and 300 delegates attend the inaugural CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa exhibition. The two-day meet, co-located with Arabian Travel Market 2019, united airline and airport executives with manufacturers and suppliers, and provided a global forum for business and networking opportunities. Alongside the conference programme, delegates had the opportunity to book one-to-one appointments in airline and airport meeting lounges and enjoy evening networking events. Karin Butot, CEO, The Airport Agency, said, “CONNECT is a new addition to the route development calendar and co-located with ATM is a natural choice given the unprecedented growth in aviation across the region. We look forward to welcoming delegates to what promises to be a series of lively debates and discussions.” The Middle East’s airline seat count has doubled in the last 10 years, and last year saw 264.31 million scheduled departing seats, according to anna.aero data. Growth has been fuelled by the major expansion of scheduled carriers and more recently, low-cost airlines, which now accounts for 16 per cent of all departing seats. Dubai International Airport, the world’s largest airport for international passenger numbers, recording 89.1 million passengers last year, accounted for 22 per cent of all departing seats in the Middle East. Nick Pilbeam, Divisional Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, said, “Two-thirds of the world’s population are within an eight-hour flight of the GCC and the region’s airlines are continuously adding new routes, to connect to fresh destinations.” Kicking off the two-day event was a training workshop entitled ‘The Simpson Paradox in Donut Crunching’ – showing how best to achieve better data accuracy when estimating a route’s potential. John Strickland, Director, JLS Consulting, gave a keynote …

Set to be held from April 30 to May 1, CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa 2019 is expected to bring together airline specialists, aviation authorities, tourism boards, airports and tour operators, as well as other travel-related industry professionals. Fourteen airlines have already confirmed their participation at CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa – co-located with Arabian Travel Market 2019 and taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre. Senior network planning teams from Emirates, Etihad, flydubai, Air Arabia, Air Asia, EgyptAir, flyadeal, Ethiopian Airlines, Global Airways, Atlas Global, Germania, Mahan Air, Royal Air Maroc and Titan Airways will attend the inaugural route development forum. Throughout 2018, GCC airlines have added 58 new flight routes – focusing on areas of consistent and substantial growth – according to research from Colliers International – based on a sample of 10 airlines including Emirates, Etihad, flydubai, Salaam Air, Oman Air, Gulf Air, Saudia, flyadeal, Air Arabia and IndiGo airlines. Karin Butot, CEO, The Airport Agency, said, “2018 has been an exciting year for new flight routes both to and from the GCC, underscoring Dubai as the ideal location to bring together professionals from the aviation and tourism industry for the inaugural CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa forum. With up to 400 delegates, CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa 2019 will include unlimited one-to-one pre-scheduled appointments, a conference programme, panel discussions and airline and  industry briefings as well as an exhibition area dedicated to airports and suppliers.” Nick Pilbeam, Divisional Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, said, “It is an ideal base for exploring some of the world’s most interesting and previously inaccessible corners of the world. And the GCC’s airlines are making it even easier with the …