Routes Asia 2024 Awards: The Airport Finalists

The Routes Asia 2024 Awards will celebrate excellence in airport and destination marketing, with 15 airports, four destinations and five airlines making the final this year.

Six awards are on offer, including three airport accolades that highlight the organizations that have excelled in route development marketing. Split into categories of Under 5 Million, 5-20 Million and Over 20 Million, they showcase the marketing support that airports have provided to their airline partners.

The Destination Award champions the assistance provided by destinations to their airline partners, while the Airline Award celebrates the importance of partnership in achieving successful and profitable routes. There will also be an Overall Winner, selected from the list of winners.

The Airport and Destination categories have been reviewed and scored by a panel of airline judges, while the Airline category have been reviewed and scored by a panel of editorial judges.

Today we profile the finalists from the three airport categories, with the finalists for the Destination and Airline categories featuring tomorrow. The winners will be announced on Feb. 28 at Routes Asia 2024, taking place in Langkawi.

The airport finalists are:

Under 5 Million Passengers

Cairns Airport, Australia

Cairns Airport has solidified its position as the nation’s northern gateway by adopting a targeted approach to route development. Emphasizing international connectivity through partnerships with carriers like Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia, the airport successfully recovered from the initial pandemic impact by rebuilding links to previous markets. A key achievement has been securing daily direct flights to Tokyo Haneda, resulting in a significant 127% growth in Japanese travelers by September 2023. The airport’s risk-sharing approach and collaboration with the Queensland Government and tourism organizations have contributed to the success.

Clark International Airport, Philippines

Clark International Airport (CRK) experienced significant growth in 2023, handling nearly 2 million passengers, marking a 160% increase from the previous 12 months. The airport welcomed five new airlines, including four international carriers, and added 13 new destinations, showcasing a robust recovery. Airport operator Luzon International Premiere Airport Development Corp, the company behind a new terminal that was inaugurated in May 2022 and can handle 8 million passengers, actively collaborates with airlines, offering incentives and crafting packages to manage operational costs, fostering positive trends in the broader aviation sector.

GMR Goa International Airport, India

Goa’s Manohar International Airport (GOX), launched in January 2023, has rapidly gained traction as an important aviation hub for the region. The airport’s strategy involves extensive global outreach to airlines, presenting detailed business cases for specific markets, resulting in 1 million passengers within four months and 26 domestic destinations, including 15 new points for Goa. The focus on international services led to securing four airlines, with more expected to relocate from the older Goa Airport. GOX aims to extend its reach in Asia and expand its domestic and international footprint.

Hat Yai International Airport, Thailand

Hat Yai International Airport is the main airport in southern Thailand, operated by Airports of Thailand (AOT). Latest route successes for the airport include Thai AirAsia’s decision to launch flights to Singapore. The route started on Feb. 1 and will initially be offered three times per week. In 2023, AOT introduced a new set of incentives, designed to stimulate international air traffic during the high season in support of the government’s tourism promotion policy. The move offered discounts on aircraft landing service fees.

Sendai International Airport, Japan

Sendai International Airport (SDJ), situated 14 km from Sendai City, serves as the primary gateway for Northeastern Japan. With a focus on expanding its international network, SDJ aims to capitalize on business and tourism opportunities by directly connecting the region to global destinations. Noteworthy developments include the launch of Starlux Airlines' service from Taiwan and increased frequencies from the likes of EVA Airways and Asiana Airlines. SDJ has achieved 86% and 92% passenger recovery for domestic and international flights, respectively, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

5-20 Million Passengers

Adelaide Airport, Australia

Key objectives for Adelaide Airport in recent years have included regrowing international and domestic networks, capturing lost connectivity, stimulating demand, securing incremental aircraft, and shaping leakage demand. By executing these strategies in collaboration with airline partners and tourism bodies, ADL has added new international and domestic destinations, including VietJet’s connection from Ho Chi Minh City that started in November 2023. Qantas has also based five E190 aircraft and the airport since the pandemic, while Jetstar has based an additional Airbus A320 there. ADL has a strategy in place to increase its international network to 13 points by 2030, 25 by 2040 and 39 by 2050.

Cam Ranh International Airport, Vietnam

Cam Ranh International Airport (CXR) welcomed more than 34,000 flights and 5.7 million passengers during 2023, including significant growth in the Korean market and expansion into new countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Overall passenger traffic was up by 728% last year, compared with 2022, helped by service from new airline partners such as Cambodia Airways, Ruili Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, and Qanot Sharq. The airport employs unique marketing strategies, participating in cultural events and using the region’s culinary richness to promote the airport on an international scale. CXR aims to achieve 8 million passengers per annum by the first quarter of 2026.

Da Nang International Airport, Vietnam

Da Nang International Airport (DAD), the host of Routes Asia 2022, enjoyed a strong recovery in 2023, handling more than 13 million passengers. Traffic is expected to increase by a further 9% in 2024. The airport has secured new international routes from the likes of Aero K, Cebu Pacific, Starlux Airlines and Vietnam Airlines in recent months, as well as frequency increases from Jeju Air and Lao Airlines among others. A significant milestone was achieved earlier this year when DAD’s international terminal was certified as a 5-star terminal by Skytrax.

Mactan Cebu International Airport, Philippines

Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB) experienced a significant jump in traffic during 2023, handling more than 10 million international and domestic passengers, representing growth of 81% compared with 2022 and returning to about 80% of 2019 levels. New carriers have included Starlux Airlines, which commenced flights from Taipei. Elsewhere, Cebu Pacific also introduced service to the Taiwan capital and Philippines AirAsia inaugurated Tokyo Narita flights. The airport's collaborative approach contributed to the presence of five Philippine carriers and 15 foreign airlines by the end of 2023, serving 28 domestic and 12 international destinations, reflecting 85% of CEB’s pre-pandemic network.

Perth Airport, Australia

Perth Airport (PER) enjoyed a robust recovery in 2023, recording a record 15.3 million passengers. Notably, VFR travel rebounded strongly, with key markets like the UK, New Zealand, and India surpassing pre-COVID levels. New routes in 2023 saw service launched by Batik Air Malaysia, Philippine Airlines, VietJet and Vietnam Airlines among others. The airport’s diverse marketing strategies have contributed to the growth, including organizing various travel industry events to enhance destination awareness, featuring partnerships with Japan National Tourism Organisation, Korean National Tourism Organisation, and StudyPerth. PER was also successful in bidding for Routes Asia 2025 in partnership with Business Events Perth and Tourism WA.

Over 20 Million Passengers

Bengaluru International Airport, India

Bengaluru International Airport (BLR) has become a prominent player in India's aviation landscape, achieving passenger growth from 27.5 million in 2022 to 37.2 million in 2023. The airport connects to 70 domestic and 25 international destinations. BLR’s route development strategy includes a variable tariff plan, marketing fund campaigns, and supportive events for new launches. Proactive engagement with airlines, monthly market insights sharing, and effective stakeholder engagement contribute to successful partnerships. Route successes include Ethiopian making BLR its first port in South India and Virgin Atlantic’s new service from London Heathrow Airport.

Changi Airport Group, Singapore

Singapore’s Changi Airport (SIN) had a dynamic year in 2023, witnessing the robust resumption of travel with all four terminals fully reopened and achieving multiple awards, including the 12th SkyTrax World’s Best Airport Award. The airport registered 58.9 million passenger movements, reaching 86% of the 2019 traffic, and 1.74 million tonnes of airfreight throughput. Collaborating with airlines, SIN engaged in innovative marketing techniques, launched multi-airline campaigns, and focused on route development, promoting fly-cruise and fly-coach segments. In 2023, SIN welcomed three new passenger airlines—Air Macau, Firefly and TransNusa—with several more, including Air Canda, joining this year.

Fukuoka Airport, Japan

Fukuoka Airport (FUK) ranked as the third largest airport in Japan in 2023, handling 24.1 million passengers, nearly achieving full recovery compared to pre-COVID-19 levels. Positioned strategically within a three-hour flight radius of 1.2 billion inhabitants in Northeast Asia and a five-hour flight range for narrow-body aircraft from most Southeast Asian points, FUK has witnessed remarkable recovery and growth, particularly in international traffic, reaching a monthly record high of 670,861 passengers in December 2023. Additionally, FUK is undergoing significant infrastructure development, including the expansion of the international terminal's capacity to 16 million passengers, a new runway, and recent enhancements to the North concourse.

Melbourne Airport, Australia

Melbourne Airport (MEL) reached 100% of pre-COVID international capacity during 2023. With a record-breaking 38 international airlines serving the airport, up from 36 in 2019, the airport welcomed six new airlines and worked with 31 others to resume services to more than 26 destinations. Notable new routes have included Qantas’ service to Dallas-Fort Worth—the fourth longest in the world—and Turkish Airlines’ choosing Melbourne as its first Australian destination. Other achievements have seen capacity to India and Vietnam swell by 333% and 122% respectively since 2019, while Bonza selected MEL as the only capital city airport within its network, offering flights to 11 destinations, seven of which were previously unserved.

Seoul Incheon International Airport, South Korea

More than 56 million passengers were handled by Seoul Incheon International Airport in 2023, marking a rise of 214% year-on-year. The airport is now served by 87 airlines with flights to about 150 destinations worldwide. Summer 2024 will see further growth of ICN’s international network, with Canada’s WestJet launching flights from Calgary; SWISS inaugurating its first route to the South Korean capital; and Aeromexico resuming operations from Mexico City. Other recent route successes have seen China Southern Airlines opening flights from Shenzhen and ANA Group’s new long-haul LCC AirJapan commencing operations from Tokyo Narita.