Beijing event 13-15 September 2009 key to global network expansion
King Abdulaziz International Airport - KAIA Jeddah - is participating in the 15th World Route Development Forum to be held in Beijing 13-15 September 2009.
World Routes 2009, the premier global meeting place for every airline and airport, comes at a time when the air travel industry is facing a severe downturn and a massive restructuring of the world’s air networks is underway. Due to this, route development activity is at an all time high and the Beijing Forum is where many of the negotiations will happen.
“KAIA is one of the few airports in the world enjoying a high growth rate in passenger traffic and we have an ongoing program to expand our capacity and capabilities, including new terminals, to allow for continuous increase in the number of pilgrims, domestic, tourist and business travelers,” said the Director Marketing & Business Development at KAIA, Engr. Juergen R. Spingler. “With this in mind, our presence at World Routes 2009 is a unique opportunity to protect and expand our network in line with plans for the future.”
The cost effectiveness of attending the Beijing Forum, as opposed to hosting head office meetings with airlines, is proved by the fact that at last year’s World Routes Conference, held in Kuala Lumpur, KAIA held key meetings with 14 airlines: AirAsiaX, Air Berlin, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, Mahan Air, Malaysian Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Swiss Air and United Airlines.
Adding significant value to KAIA’s presence, World Routes 2009 in Beijing features five co-located events: the ICAO/World Bank/Routes “Global Strategy Summit”; the 2nd World Tourism and Air Services Summit (TAS); ACED (Airports as Catalysts for Economic Development); the World Fleet and Network Planning Congress; and the Global Airlines Alliances Conference.
According to the recently published World Traffic Report 2008 the number of arriving and departing passengers at 1,357 airports, representing 98 percent of global airport traffic, amounted to a marginal growth rate of only 0.1 percent for the year compared to 2007, whereas in the first seven months of 2009 KAIA passenger traffic increased by almost ten percent compared to the same period last year.
Currently, KAIA is handling more than 18 million passengers a year and is expanding its capacity and capabilities, including new terminals, to allow for continuous growth in the number of pilgrims, domestic, tourist and business travelers.
KAIA is committed to driving corporatization of the airport and developing the business in cooperation with all stakeholders, focused on enhancing value and fostering sustainable grow in accordance with international standards and environmental requirements.
