The Routes Europe 2025 Awards will celebrate outstanding achievements in airport and destination marketing, featuring 13 airports, five destinations and five airlines as this year’s finalists.
The awards span six categories, including the Destination Award, which recognizes destinations that actively support their airline partners, and the Airline Award, honoring carriers that exemplify strong collaboration in route development.
Three categories are dedicated to airports based on annual passenger traffic—Under 5 Million, 5–20 Million and Over 20 Million. Additionally, an Overall Winner will be chosen from the list of winners.
The finalists in the Airport and Destination categories have been evaluated by a panel of airline judges, while the Airline category has been scored by an editorial panel. The winners will be announced on April 9 at Routes Europe 2025, taking place in Seville, Spain.
More News And Analysis From Routes Europe 2025
DESTINATION AWARD
Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Tourism
Cyprus welcomed a record-breaking 4.04 million visitors in 2024, a 5.1% increase over 2023 and 2.6% above pre-pandemic levels. Tourism revenue surged to €3.2 billion ($3.5 billion)—up 7.3% year-on-year—highlighting the sector’s vital role in the island’s economy. Strong growth was recorded from key markets: Poland (+23%), Finland (+26%), France (+15%), Germany (+8%) and Italy (+9%). In January 2025 alone, arrivals jumped by 27.4%, reflecting Cyprus’s expanding connectivity and momentum as a year-round destination. The Deputy Ministry of Tourism invested over €5 million in 2024 on promotional campaigns across 28 countries, driving a 4% rise in travel searches from 2023.
Jordan Tourism Board
In 2024, the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) achieved a significant milestone by welcoming more than 1.32 million visitors from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, marking a 15% increase from the previous year. To further enhance connectivity and attract European tourists, the organization recently signed five charter flight agreements, aiming to tap into new markets and increase tourist numbers from Europe. Additionally, JTB has secured partnerships with Ryanair and Wizz Air to boost global connectivity. Under these agreements, Ryanair will operate 27X-weekly flights through 14 direct routes to Amman from key European destinations, including Milan.
Malta Tourism Authority
Malta recorded 3.56 million inbound tourists in 2024, a 19.5% increase year-on-year, with air travel accounting for 3.49 million arrivals. Total nights spent rose by 13% to nearly 23 million, while tourism expenditure surged by 23.1% to €3.3 billion. Per capita spend also grew to €924, reflecting a strong rise in visitor value. Backed by proactive marketing and close coordination with airlines, the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) continues to drive strategic route development to sustain year-round tourism. MTA works with airport and airline partners to target key source markets.
Turismo de Portugal, Portugal
Portugal experienced another record-breaking year in 2024, welcoming 31.6 million visitors and generating €27.7 billion in tourism receipts. With more than 90% of international visitors arriving by air, Turismo de Portugal has focused on supporting airline partnerships and route development across its airport network. In summer 2024, 54 new routes and 12 new airlines were introduced, with 41 more routes and 11 additional airlines secured for winter 2024-25. For summer 2025, 35 more new routes are already confirmed. Turismo de Portugal offers an incentive scheme tailored by route and seasonality, supports joint marketing campaigns and works with airports and stakeholders to identify opportunities.
Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, Türkiye
Türkiye welcomed a record 62.3 million visitors in 2024, driven by a strategic focus on air connectivity and collaborative route development. The Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) plays a central role in this success, working alongside Turkish Airlines, SunExpress, Pegasus and more than 30 global airline partners to expand capacity and launch new services. Between 2019 and 2024, Türkiye’s international air seat capacity grew by 29%—from 60 million to nearly 77 million seats—outpacing the global average of 1.6%. TGA contributed through co-branded marketing, joint public relations campaigns, data-driven support and hospitality programs.
AIRLINE AWARD
Aegean Airlines
Aegean Airlines continued its post-pandemic transformation in 2024, growing seat capacity by 6% while expanding its network with new routes to underserved markets such as Krakow and Sevilla, and increasing frequencies on key routes including Rome, Tel Aviv and Jeddah. Strategic partnerships extended its reach to the U.S. and China via codeshares with Emirates and Juneyao Airlines, while its collaboration with Dohop enabled connections with LCCs like easyJet and Vueling. Aegean is playing a central role in positioning Greece as a year-round destination, with counter-seasonal routes to the UAE and Canary Islands, winter links to Innsbruck and targeted initiatives.
EasyJet
EasyJet grew by 5% in 2024, operating around 1,100 routes across 160 airports in 35 countries. Backed by a structured, data-driven network planning approach, the airline added 204 new routes and launched 12 new network points during the winter 2024-25 season, including growth into markets such as Tbilisi, Cape Verde, Luxor and Tromsø. The airline continued expanding its base network, opening a new UK base in Birmingham and strengthening positions at Lisbon, Milan Linate and Rome Fiumicino through remedy slot allocations. The airline engages closely with airport and tourism board partners through multi-channel campaigns, public relations events and joint market development.
Eurowings
Eurowings continued to expand its footprint in 2024, serving over 150 airports and launching new routes including Düsseldorf-Sevilla, Hannover-Lisbon, Cologne-Bastia and Stuttgart-Mostar. The airline strengthened its Middle East network with 34 routes connecting German cities to Dubai, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi, while also announcing a new summer 2025 service from Düsseldorf to Ponta Delgada. As part of its expansion strategy, Eurowings has committed to 40 Boeing 737-8 aircraft. Backed by a data-driven approach to network planning, the airline works closely with airports, tour operators and tourism boards to deliver growth and affordable, sustainable travel.
Jet2.com
Jet2.com continued its impressive growth over the past year, operating more than 575 routes to 75 destinations from 13 UK bases—including new operations from Liverpool, Bournemouth and London Luton. Since 2023, the airline launched more than 160 new routes and introduced 10 new destinations, including Bergen, Marrakesh, Palermo and Tallinn. Jet2’s fleet will grow to 135 aircraft in summer 2025, with a further 146 Airbus A321neos on firm order. Its integrated model with Jet2holidays allows for data-driven route planning, optimized scheduling and strong commercial performance. The growth is also underpinned by strong partnerships with airports and tourism boards across Europe.
Volotea
Volotea continued its rapid expansion in 2024, operating more than 420 routes—more than half of them exclusive—and serving 110 airports, including new operations from Salerno, Oslo, Rodez and Comiso. The airline, which focuses on connecting underserved small and midsized European cities, expects to reach 80 million passengers by the end of 2025 since launching in 2012. Its flexible model includes public service obligation routes, charter flights and Airbus shuttle services, alongside codeshares with Aegean and TAP. Volotea is on track to cut direct carbon dioxide emissions per passenger-kilometer by 50% by 2025—five years ahead of schedule.
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