Billund Airport named Overall Winner of the Routes Europe Awards

Billund Airport has been crowned the Overall Winner of this year’s Routes Europe Awards. The airport’s investment in valuable market research and relations within the travel trade, securing commitment from tourism organisations, has helped them support their airline partners. As a result, the airport announced 12 new routes in 2022 along with 5 more to come in 2023, through new partnerships including SkyAlpes, Air Greenland, Austrian Airlines and British Airways.

Upon winning the award, Jesper Klausholm, Director Airline Relation, Communication & Marketing, Billund Airport said; “After a terrible period for all of us during the pandemic, this nomination truly comes as a ray of sunshine after a rainstorm – we are delighted that the airline community value our cooperation. It is an absolute surprise to us to win a Routes Award – and we absolutely love it! Tonight, we will party, but already tomorrow the hard work together with the airlines will continue!”

In the 4-20 Million Passenger Category, Budapest Airport was named the winner. With a message to move Forward Together following the pandemic, the airport focused on rebuilding personal relationships with industry partners and executing strong digital campaigns to support their current airlines and routes. This campaign resulted in them seeing 75% recovery of passenger traffic and the launch of 13 new routes, including 5 new destinations in 2022, with another 12 routes announced in 2023.

Athens International Airport was named the winner of the Over 20 Million Passenger Category. This airport was recognised by one of the judges for their innovative team who strive hard to ensure their partners are fully supported with incentive schemes and marketing initiatives. This has seen them achieve continuous growth in passenger traffic since the pandemic, up 84% in 2022 vs 2021, as well as 39 new air services for the airport.

The winner of the Destination category was Canary Islands Tourist Board – Promotur. As one of the first tourist destinations in the world to recover pre-pandemic capacity levels, their exceptional strategy included collaborations with airlines, tour operators and airports, including the Spanish government. Incentive schemes and airline tax benefits drove these partnerships to result in 25 new routes to the destination.

airBaltic have secured the Airline Award. The airline has demonstrated sustainable network growth in recent years, launching 12 new routes in 2022 and saw a significant milestone with their expansion into Finland. In 2023, they continued this growth with a record breaking 20 new routes as well as diversifying its route map to replace lost traffic as a result of the war in Ukraine. The carrier was also acknowledged for its innovative cooperation with airports and tourism boards.

The full list of winning organisations:

Airport size categories for this year’s Routes Awards were based on 2022 pax data

Overall Winner
Billund Airport

Under 4 Million Passengers
Billund Airport

4-20 Million Passengers
Budapest Airport

Over 20 Million Passengers
Athens International Airport

Destination
Canary Islands Tourist Board – Promotur

Airline
airBaltic

Source : ROUTES EVENTS