New Aviation Show Launches in Dubai

• CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa 2019 to take-off alongside Arabian Travel Market, after ATM organiser partners with Lyon-based aviation event specialist The Airport Agency
• Emirates will be the official airline partner while Emaar Hospitality Group will be the official hotel partner

Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE), organiser of the annual Arabian Travel Market (ATM) showcase in Dubai, has boosted its travel portfolio, having signed a collaboration agreement to launch CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa 2019 – a new route development forum.

The two-day show will be co-located with Arabian Travel Market 2019 and will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Tuesday 30^th April and Wednesday 1^st May (day three and four of ATM).

Emirates will be the official airline partner - with Emirates Networking Planning team attending the show - while Emaar Hospitality Group will be the official hotel partner – both of which will offer preferential rates exclusively for delegates attending the show.

Nick Pilbeam, Divisional Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions: “The Middle East’s aviation market is forecast to grow five per cent annually until 2036, according to IATA. It is predicated that the sector will witness an extra 322 million passengers a year on routes to, from and within the region – with the total market size expanding to 517 million passengers over this period.

“The sector is expected to contribute nearly AED 200 billion to the UAE’s economy by 2020, providing up to 750,000 jobs.

“Moreover, the aviation industry is a crucial economic pillar for Dubai, accounting for more than 27 per cent of Dubai’s GDP, or $26.7 billion, according to Oxford Economics. This is expected to increase to 37.5 per cent by 2020 with a total annualised impact of $53.1 billion.”

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.

With up to 400 delegates, the structure of the vertical event will include unlimited one-to-one pre-scheduled appointments, a conference programme, panel discussions and airline & industry briefings as well as an exhibition area dedicated to airports and suppliers.

“Being the world’s largest travel event organiser, with shows on all continents, our collaboration with The Airport Agency will bring the entire tourism supply chain together, providing huge strategic commercial opportunities for aviation professionals, particularly those specialising in airport route development, networking planning and procurement,” Pilbeam added.

CONNECT has already held events around the world, the most recent being CONNECT in Georgia which brought together over 500 aviation decision makers including more than 65 airlines and represented 250 airports to discuss current and future air transport links, route development plans as well as addressing topical issues and challenges and identifying and capitalising on emerging trends.  

Commenting on The Airport Agency’s collaboration with Reed Travel Exhibitions, Karin Butot, CEO, The Airport Agency, said: “CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa is set to deliver a unique networking platform for airports, airlines and tourism to meet and network alongside ATM, the largest international travel event in the region which celebrated its 25^th anniversary last year.

“As more and more airports are working in synergy with their destinations to explore and secure new airline services, CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa will deliver exceptional opportunities in an established, highly-productive format, thus making the show the only aviation route development event in the region for both inbound and outbound travel, connecting senior aviation professionals with airlines and airports all over the world.”

Dubai International Airport was the busiest international airport measured by total passengers for the fourth consecutive year, as it welcomed six new carriers in 2017 and opened 12 new routes for 2018.

The airport served 88.2 million passengers in 2017, an increase of 5.5 per cent from 2016, Dubai Airports said in a statement. Traffic this year was forecast to grow 2.4 per cent to 90.3 million.

Propelled by a partnership between Emirates and sister low-cast carrier flydubai, growth is expected to continue in 2019 as the momentum gathers in the build up to Expo 2020, when 25 million visitors are expected.

About Reed Exhibitions

Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face to face through data and digital tools at over 500 events a year, in more than 30 countries, attracting more than seven million participants.

About CONNECT

CONNECT Route Development Forum delivers a total networking experience, bringing together airports, airlines and aviation suppliers in a format that offers formal one-to-one pre-arranged meetings, engaging industry seminars together with social opportunities to cement relationships with existing clients and engage with new ones. Created and organised by The Airport Agency-France, CONNECT is now in its 16^th year and set to attract over 650 participants in June 2019 at its flagship event taking place in Cagliari, Sardinia.

The inaugural CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa event will be the first and only networking forum in the Middle East. Ideally located in Dubai to address the booming aviation market of the Middle East, it will bring together the aviation and the tourism industry which are the backbone and catalyst to economic development.

Arabian Travel Market is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2018 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, with representation from 141 countries over the four days. The 25th edition of ATM showcased over 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre.  Arabian Travel Market 2019 will take place in Dubai from Sunday, 28^th April to Wednesday, 1^st May 2019. To find out more, please visit: arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com

About Reed Travel Exhibitions

Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism event’s organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether it is global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have over 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.