KwaZulu-Natal to Host World Route Development Forum in 2015

KwaZulu-Natal Province (KZN) will host the 21st World Route Development Forum (World Routes) at ICC Durban from 20th -22nd September 2015.

World Routes is a global meeting place for airlines, airports, tourism boards and government stakeholders, and attracts attendees from over 110 countries.

KwaZulu-Natal Province is the country’s most popular domestic leisure tourism destination and is home to Africa’s busiest sea-ports: Durban – the busiest in Africa and Richards Bay – the deepest in Africa. The city of Durban is a vibrant city overflowing with cultural diversity and is the second largest in South Africa with a population of around 4 million.

King Shaka International Airport is a multi-billion Rand international airport which opened in May 2010 ahead of the FIFA World Cup Championships. The airport, along with its adjacent trade port “Dube Trade Port” provides facilities for intercontinental passenger travel and freight transfer.

The city of Durban and KwaZulu-Natal Province have embarked upon a development strategy to grow the regional tourism economy and to increase the number of international tourists to KZN by 2030. The plan is to grow passenger and cargo airlift out of King Shaka International Airport and hosting World Routes 2015 will assist in improving the air services potential of the airport, coupled with the trade gateway operations of the two sea ports. In addition, bringing the event to the growing aviation market of Africa, which also has significant potential, will be of huge benefit to the region.

“World Routes 2015 will position our flagship development, southern Africa’s premier air logistics platform and the home of the continent's first purpose built aerotropolis, the Dube Trade Port, which incorporates the King Shaka International Airport for a major growth in air services,” said Provincial Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, Mr. Michael Mabuyakhulu. “At the official opening of Dube Trade Port last year, our president His Excellency President Jacob Zuma challenged us to grow King Shaka International Airport into becoming an alternative aviation hub. Bringing World Routes 2015 to KwaZulu-Natal is our response to this challenge, amongst our other strategic initiatives. 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 air lift out of King Shaka International Airport, the host airport for this event.”