Routes Silk Road Opens in Tbilisi, Georgia

Manchester, England (ots/PRNewswire) -

Leading Airlines and Airports Meet to Expand Air Services Between
Asia, Europe and the Middle East

The first Routes Silk Road, the route development forum which
connects Asia, the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle
East will open this weekend in Tbilisi, Georgia. The event will bring
together leading airports, airlines, tourism authorities,
policy-makers and aviation stakeholders to develop new air services
to, from and within the region, which is home to around two thirds of
the world's population.

Hosted by United Airports of Georgia and supported by the Georgian
National Tourism Administration, Routes Silk Road will take place in
the Georgian capital on 6 - 8 July 2014. Over 250 delegates are
expected to attend Routes Silk Road, representing over 45 airports
and 35 leading airlines which connect the region, including Etihad,
Air China, China Southern, Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot, AirAsia X,
easyJet, Air Astana, Air Baltic, Czech Airlines, Air Arabia, Wizz Air
and Atlasjet.

Kate Aleksidze, CEO of UAG commented: "It is an absolute honour
and we fee truly privileged to host Routes Silk Road 2014 in Tbilisi.
Georgia has achieved some outstanding results over the last decade in
terms of PAX growth, which has been trebled since 2005. We believe
that hosting Routes Silk Road gives UAG and its stakeholders a unique
opportunity to promote the country as destination and generate
further growth of the aviation industry in both the country as well
as all over the region."

Katie Bland, Director Routes for UBM Live said: "Like the Silk
Road of old, today's air services facilitate trade and commerce
between the many peoples of this vast and diverse part of the world.
It is for this reason we are bringing together the leading airports
and airlines which connect the 4.5 billion people of Asia, Central
and Eastern Europe and the Middle East regions. Routes Silk Road aims
to further improve the connections between the major cities in this
important region, and the decisions taken here will help shape air
transport in the region for years to come."

One of the highlights of the event will be the Routes Silk Road
Strategy Summit which will take place on Sunday 6 July and in the
morning of Monday 7 July and will open with a keynote address from
Giorgi Kvirikashvili Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development
of Georgia. Around 20 high-level industry leaders will speak at this
hard hitting conference covering some of the hot topics affecting the
industry today, including Kate Aleksidze, CEO of United Airports of
Georgia; Yevgen Treskunov, EVP Strategy and Development, Ukraine
International Airlines; Iase Zautashvili, General Director, Georgian
Airways; Mete Erkal, General Manager, TAV Georgia; Arman
Khachaturyan, CEO, National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia and
Daniel Burkard, Director of External & International Relations and
Deputy Airport Director at Domodedovo Moscow Airport. Attendees will
also hear a keynote presentation from Alla Peressolova, Programme
Manager Silk Road of the UNWTO who will be holding their Silk Road
Task Force alongside Routes Silk Road.

Located at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, Georgia is a
bridge connecting several important economic regions including
Europe, the Newly Independent States (NIS), Turkey, the Caucasus and
Central Asia region. Its geographic location makes the country the
transportation hub for commerce and job creation.

For more information on Routes Silk Road, please visit our website
[http://www.routesonline.com/events/conference/18/strategy-summit/spe
akers ].

Notes to Editors

About Routes

- Routes organises world-renowned airline and airport networking events
through its regional and global Route Development Forums. Each year, there is one
global event and one regional event in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and CIS
respectively. http://www.routesonline.com
- Routes was founded in 1995 as part of the Manchester UK-based ASM Ltd., a
consultancy specialising in the field of route development for airports.
http://www.asm-global.com [http://www.asm%E2%80%90global.com ]. Routes and ASM are
part of the UBM Live division of UBM plc.
- UBM Live connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five
continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote
their brands and expand their markets. Through premiere brands such as MD&M, CPhI,
IFSEC, TFM&A, Cruise Shipping Miami, the Concrete Show, the Routes portfolio of
events, Airport Cities and many others, UBM Live exhibitions, conferences, awards
programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an
integral part of the marketing plans of companies across more than 20 industry
sectors. http://www.ubmlive.com

About UBM plc

- UBM plc is a global events-led marketing services and communications
company. We help businesses do business, bringing the world's buyers and sellers
together at events and online, as well as producing and distributing news and
specialist content. Our 5,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into
expert teams which serve commercial and professional communities, helping them to do
business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.
- For more information, go to http://www.ubm.com; follow us on Twitter at
@UBM_plc [http://twitter.com/UBM_plc ] to get the latest UBM corporate news; follow
@UBM for news from all UBM's businesses; follow @UBM for a flavour of UBM from
selected members of UBM's Twitterati.

Follow us on twitter: @Routesonline, @TheHUBRoutes,
@VictoriaRoutes, @NLPROU, @airlineroute

ots Originaltext: UBM Live Routes Ltd
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Victoria Jones, Communications Manager, Routes, T:
+44(0)161-234-2730, E: pr@routesonline.com