Aviation leaders unite in Milan to rebuild global air connectivity

With millions of jobs and national economies dependent on a strong restart of the air transport sector, World Routes will bring together decision-makers from airlines, airports, and tourism authorities in Milan next week (10-12 October) to rebuild global air connectivity.

Now in its 26th year, World Routes has made a real impact on the world’s route networks with over 3,500 new air services being connected to meetings at the event in the last three years alone. More than 125 airlines will be present in Milan to develop recovery strategies including Air Canada, Air China, Air France, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, easyJet, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Iberia Airlines, International Airlines Group, Jet2.com, JetBlue, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Wizz Air. 

Airline CEOs, government ministers, and association leaders will outline actions that the industry must take to accelerate the recovery during a series of conference sessions at the event. High-profile speakers include Jozsef Varadi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air; Jason McGuinness, director of commercial of Ryanair; Garth Lund, CCO of Flair; Brad Dean, CEO of Discover Puerto Rico; Vijay Daryanani, Minister for Business, Tourism, Transport and the Port of the Government of Gibraltar; Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Director General of ACI World and Fabio Lazzerini, CEO of ITA. 

Hosted by SEA Milan Airports, in partnership with the Lombardy Region, the Municipality of Milan, ENIT – Italian Tourist Board and Bergamo Airport, World Routes will deliver long-term growth opportunities for the city and wider region. Air transport’s contribution to the Italian economy is significant, supporting 714,000 jobs and contributing €46 billion (US$53.4 billion) to the economy – accounting for roughly 2.7% of Italy’s GDP in 2019. Following the impact of COVID-19, the positive catalytic effects of air connectivity in increasing trade, tourism, investment, labor supply, and market efficiency will be more important than ever in helping Italy to rebuild its economy.