How Do New Airline Routes Get Created?

In Washington DC, speed dating is starting to become popular again. Go to a restaurant, pay a fee and get to spend a few minutes each with 15+ girls. Its a great way to meet someone.

www.prosinthecity.com

In Vegas, this week, airline executives and airport representatives participated in a 3 day's of speed dating known as World Routes Conference. USA Today reports:

"Airport executives from across the world were here this week hoping to strike it big, not at gambling, but at speed dating. 

No, the airport executives weren't in Las Vegas to meet a new spouse – but they were looking for new partners – as in airlines. And the effects from those Vegas speed dates could eventually be felt at an airport near you. 

It's all part of the annual 19th annual World Routes conference, a forum that pairs airport and airline executives. The purpose? Airports get to make their case to airlines for why the airlines should add or expand flight offerings at their airports."

www.usatoday.com

Airlines buy tables and have 20 minute meetings with representatives from various airports. The event had aviation and tourism representatives from 140 countries and 750 airports big and small. An airline could have up to 50 meetings over the three days.

The results of such introductions can be substantial. For instance, some might have wondered how Oakland got Norwegian's 787 Dreamlines. It all started with a date:

One airport that successfully used Routes to win a spot in Norwegian's route network is California's Oakland International Airport. Norwegian announced just last month that it will begin flying from Oakland to both Oslo and Stockholm on the carrier's new Boeing 787 Dreamliners starting this May.

The success of the marriage between Oakland and Norwegian happened at a similar event 3 years ago:

So Oakland and Norwegian first met at Routes in Berlin back in 2010, the beginning of three years of conversations that finally led to September's announcement that Norwegian's Dreamliners would soon by flying to Oakland. 

[John Albrecht, Oakland International's Aviation Marketing Manager]  says Oakland's successful courting of Norwegian "had its origins at Routes," though he bristles just a bit at the speed-dating analogy. 

"It's a little bit more sophisticated than speed dating," he says. "There's a lot of work that goes into it. We actually put a pretty good amount of analytic thought into proposing a market and what market we think is viable.". 

To the point, Albrecht says Oakland made its first contact with Norwegian Air Shuttle nearly three years ago after the airline began looking at widebody planes that would allow it to add long-haul routes to destinations such as Asia or North America."

I always wondered how new routes get created. Little did I ever think it started with a speed date in some convention center.....

Happy Speed Dating Airline Executives?
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