Auckland Airport Wins Second Heat of Routes Marketing Awards

MANILA, Philippines, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Auckland Airport was crowned winner of the second regional heat of the 2016 Routes Marketing Awards at a ceremony yesterday (Monday, 7 March) in Manila in the Philippines.

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The annual Routes Marketing Awards recognise excellence in airport and destination marketing. Airlines vote for the marketing services that support the successful launch of new routes or the development of existing ones, making them highly regarded in the aviation industry.

The awards are split into five categories with Auckland Airport winning both the 4-20 Million Passengers and Overall Winner Awards. The other winners are Guam's A B Won Pat International Airport for the Under 4 Million Passengers Award; Changi Airport Group for the over 20 Million Passengers Award; and Tourism Australia for the Destination Marketing Award.

Auckland Airport's international passenger traffic increased by 7.1 percent in 2015 and seven new airlines have either started or announced future routes in the past 12 months, including Air Asia X, China Eastern Airlines, American Airlines and United Airlines. The judges were also impressed by the Chinese market research the airport has carried out to encourage higher-value travellers, drive the regional dispersal of tourists within New Zealand and spread visits across the year.

As overall winner of the regional Asian heat, Auckland Airport will be entered into the World Routes Marketing Awards in Chengdu, China, later in the year. The airport will compete with the finalists of the Americas, Europe and Africa rounds to be recognised as the global leader in route marketing.

Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board won the Americas heat last month in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the remaining contests will take place at Routes Europe and Routes Africa (April and June respectively).

Peppy Adi-Purnomo, South East Asia and India Development Manager at Auckland Airport, said: "It means a lot that our airline partners supported and nominated us through the awards process. All the work we do is about 'win-win' and developing a business case to airlines to deliver sustainable air services.

"We are not interested in short-term success but always look at the long-term, developing a relationship that is right for both the airline and the airport."

Christopher Eve, Senior Vice President of UBM Asia who presented the awards, said: "We're delighted to mark the achievements of all of our nominated airports and destinations in the second regional heat of the Routes Marketing Awards. Year-on-year we are impressed by the calibre of the submissions."

The awards ceremony was held at Routes Asia 2016 which has attracted over 900 delegates from 110 airlines and 220 airports and destinations.

Notes to Editors 

The shortlisted finalists were voted for by airlines and a panel of senior members from the airline network planning community judged the entries.

The full list of shortlisted nominees and winners is:

Overall Winner

Auckland Airport

Over 20 Million Passengers

Changi Airport Group - Winner
Narita International Airport Corporation - Highly Commended
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport
Incheon International Airport
Shanghai Airport Authority
Shenzhen Bao'an Airport

4-20 Million Passengers

Auckland Airport - Winner
Perth Airport - Highly Commended
Bangalore International Airport
Mactan-Cebu International Airport
Yangon International Airport

Under 4 Million Passengers

AB Won Pat International Airport - Winner
Boracay International Airport
Krabi Airport
Mandalay International Airport
U-Tapao International Airport

Destination

Tourism Australia - Winner
Chengdu Culture & Tourism Group
Macau Government Tourist Office
Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board
Singapore Tourism Board

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. The flagship World Routes event takes place in September. http://www.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. http://www.asm‐global.com. Routes and ASM are part of the UBM EMEA division of UBM plc.

For further information please contact:

Karen Reeves
Communications & Content Marketing Manager
Routes, UBM EMEA
T: +44 (0)161 234 2721
M: +44 (0)796 6405 105
E: Karen.Reeves@routesonline.com