PRESS RELEASE: Aviation industry heads to Puerto Rico for Routes Americas

Karen O'Neill February 15, 2016

Routes Americas brings together leading airlines, airports and tourism authorities to discuss air services to, from and within the entire Americas region. Eighty-five airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, JetBlue, British Airways and Iberia have registered along with 225 airports and 40 tourism authorities.

This year’s event will be hosted by Puerto Rico Tourism Company with the support of Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC and Meet Puerto Rico. It has surpassed previous events with more than 700 delegates expected - an 8% increase on Routes Americas 2015 in Denver, USA.

Puerto Rico’s aviation market is growing with 8.8 million passengers last year. Iberia will reinstate a service to Madrid in May and Norwegian recently started new routes from San Juan to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and London Gatwick. This puts the island in a strong position to strengthen existing routes and gain more new services.

Routes Americas is the perfect opportunity to showcase local attractions and San Juan International Airport (the largest and busiest airport in the Caribbean). Since it took over operations in 2013, Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC has invested $750 million in the airport, focusing on remodelling terminals, improving passenger flows and increasing its commercial offer.

In addition to providing a meeting forum for route development professionals, the event’s ‘Strategy Summit’ conference will give delegates the opportunity to hear from leading industry experts.

Speakers include Joe Mohan, Chief Executive Officer of Viva Airlines Group; David Clark, Vice President of Network Planning at JetBlue; Amy Martin, Director of Latin American Network Planning at Delta Air Lines and Terry Thornton, Senior Vice President Itinerary Planning at Carnival Cruise Lines.

Katie Bland, Director of Routes, said: “Routes Americas is the only forum that brings together so many leading airlines and airports from the entire Americas region, so it’s a fantastic opportunity for Puerto Rico to influence the aviation industry’s most senior decision makers.”

Ingrid I. Rivera Rocafort, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, said: "We are definitely very pleased and excited to be hosting Routes Americas 2016. The event provides the perfect venue to showcase Puerto Rico’s unique identity as a travel destination as well as the Island’s remarkable potential as the bridge between North and South America, and as a central traffic hub for the Caribbean."

“Routes Americas offers participants the perfect opportunity to increment networking databases, share knowledge and exchange valuable ideas, generate further leads and continue the expansion of both leisure and business travel into Puerto Rico’s regional and international airports.”

Agustín Arellano, Chief Executive Officer of Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC, said: “Hosting Routes Americas 2016 along with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company is a great achievement for Puerto Rico and San Juan International Airport. It demonstrates the prominence of the destination among the Caribbean, Latin American and US market.

“It also gives us all the opportunity to work together developing new routes and destinations, to build trust relationships in the aviation industry and to showcase a renovated airport with more amenities and better services.”

For more information about Routes Americas, go to: www.routesonline.com/events/178/routes-americas-2016/

Routes Americas 2016, Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 17-19.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

Media are invited to the Routes Americas event and can register by emailing Karen Reeves [email protected]

A press conference will be held on Wednesday 17^th at 12:00 hrs to mark the opening of the event. It will take place at the event venue (Puerto Rico Convention Center) outside the Strategy Summit area.

Journalists can take a tour of San Juan International Airport at 9am on Wednesday 17^th before the press conference. You can register by emailing Jennifer Garcia at [email protected].

About Routes

Routes events are unique forums dedicated to the development of new air services which bring together airlines, airports and destinations to meet, plan, discuss and negotiate new and existing flights.

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. routesonline.com

The events revolve around pre-scheduled meetings and an exhibition and conference which are delivered in partnership with host stakeholders. Hosts tend to be a collaboration between airports, tourism authorities and investment partners (the bidding process takes place two to three years before the event takes place).

Routes was founded in 1995 as part of the UK‐based consultancy ASM which specialises in route development for airports, airlines and tourism and travel organisations. asm‐global.com. Routes and ASM are part of the UBM EMEA division of UBM plc.

About Puerto Rico Tourism Company

The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), founded in 1970, is a public corporation responsible for stimulating, promoting and regulating the development of the tourism industry
PRTC markets Puerto Rico as a tourism destination through advertising, public relations and promotional activities. It promotes tourism among visitors and local residents, provides visitor orientation and technical assistance to investors, evaluates tourism facilities, establishes standards of quality and regulates and oversees gaming operations
PRTC has offices and representatives in the US mainland, Canada, Europe and Latin America.

About Aerostar Holdings LLC

Aerostar Airport Holdings LLC is the managing company of San Juan Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the first private operator managing a commercial mid-size hub airport in US territory under the Federal Aviation Administration’s Pilot Privatization Program
Aerostar is a 50%-50% joint venture between ASUR (Aeropuertos del Sureste) and Oaktree Capital Management, LP - an investment management firm
Aerostar has focus in upgrading the passenger’s experience by remodelling terminals, increasing commercial offer and optimising passenger flows in SJU. Since the beginning of its operation in 2013, Aerostar has invested approximately $750 million in Puerto Rico
SJU is the Caribbean’s busiest airport. In 2015, traffic totalled 8.8 million passengers, increasing 2.3% compared to 2014.

About Meet Puerto Rico

Meet Puerto Rico (MPR) is a private, non-profit organisation that markets Puerto Rico as a premier meeting and convention destination.
The mission of MPR is to be a leading and innovative Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) responsible for promoting unique group and convention experiences through branding, selling and servicing efforts, resulting in economic benefits for Puerto Rico
The vision of MPR is to position Puerto Rico as one of the preferred group and convention destinations of the Americas.