OREANDA-NEWS. After taking the world championship in route development at the World Routes conference last autumn, CPH last night won the European championship at Routes Europe in Marseilles.

Monday April 14th, Copenhagen Airport won the European championship in route development in close competition with a number of Europe's leading airports: Frankfurt, Zurich, Barcelona, Rome, Moscow Sheremetyevo and, not least, Amsterdam, which came in second.

“The Routes Europe award shows that route development is more than just ordinary sales and marketing work. The award is recognition of the trusting and innovative collaboration we have with the airlines", - said Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Copenhagen Airport.

World leader

The Routes conferences are the world's leading route development conferences, as they provide an opportunity for airlines and airports to meet and discuss route opportunities. The jury consists of representatives of a number of airlines.

“Especially the fact that the airlines - our customers - are on the jury is something I consider very important. It means that we are seen as a credible business partner. This is important because any new route is an investment for an airline, so the business case we present to them must be credible and sustainable,” said Thomas Woldbye.

Healthy growth

The panel of judges emphasised in connection with the awards that Copenhagen Airport had successfully developed both low cost and long haul routes. New intercontinental routes to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale were emphasised together with the more than 20% growth generated by the three low cost carriers at Copenhagen Airport: Norwegian, easyJet and Vueling.

“We try to develop our collaboration from a traditional supplier-customer model into a partnership in which we team up with the airlines to make things work smoothly. The award is recognition of our work to create shared success,” said Ole Wieth Christensen, Director of Airline Sales & Route Development for Copenhagen Airport about the award.