The World Route Development Forum (World Routes) will be hosted at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC) from September 20-22, 2015, marking the first time in its history that the event has been held in Africa.
The announcement was made at the BRICS summit, which took place in Durban from March 26-27 at the ICC.
World Routes is the global meeting place for every airline, airport, tourism board and government stakeholder and attracts attendees from over 110 countries.
“The event is focused around the development of the world's air services and hosting World Routes provides a unique opportunity for a destination to showcase its airport, its city and its country to the air service decision-makers of the world,” said James Seymour, CEO of the Durban KwaZulu-Natal Convention Bureau.
He said the announcement of Durban as the host for World Routes 2015 represented the culmination of a successful bid to host the event, driven by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism in which all the region's key stakeholders were involved in supporting the proposal.
“I'm delighted that World Routes will be taking place in Africa in 2015 and it is fitting, with such a focus on the development of international trade, that we are bringing it to Durban and the region of KwaZulu-Natal," said David Stroud, Executive Vice President of World Routes.
The Provincial Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, Michael Mabuyakhulu, said: "This is a significant achievement for our country in particular and Africa in general, given the fact that this event will be hosted on the continent for the very first time. The KwaZulu-Natal province has participated in past World Routes events and, based on our analysis, we have seen how air services have improved in airports that have hosted these events. It is, therefore, our plan to leverage on the hosting of World Routes 2015 to help grow airlift out of King Shaka International Airport, the host airport for this event.”
