Nine awards will be presented at the Routes World Awards 2025, celebrating the outstanding achievements of organizations and individuals across the route development community.
After highlighting the airport categories—Under 5 Million, 5–10 Million, 10–20 Million and Over 20 Million passengers—on Sept. 17, and profiling the finalists for the Destination and Airline awards on Sept. 24, today’s focus turns to the individual categories.
The Rising Star Award recognizes emerging professionals who, despite being in the early stages of their careers, are already making a significant impact in the industry. The Individual Leadership Award honors a lifetime of achievement, celebrating individuals whose contributions have shaped and advanced global air service development.
Both categories have been assessed by a panel of editorial judges. The winners—together with those in the airport, airline, and destination categories—will be announced on Sept. 25 in Hong Kong, during the Routes World Networking Evening.
More News And Analysis From Routes World 2025
The shortlists are as follows:
RISING STAR
Daria Sergeeva, airport development manager, Wizz Air
Beginning her career at St. Petersburg Airport, Daria has delivered impactful projects including promoting Russia’s e-visa program and preparing for Wizz Air’s first base, before leading crisis communications during COVID-19. In 2022, she joined Wizz Air as sustainability communications manager before advancing to airport development manager in 2024. She now oversees a €150 million ($176 million) budget and a portfolio of more than 30 airports across the UK, Germany, Austria and the CIS. Within a year, the Wizz team negotiated nearly 40 new routes in these markets, balancing cost efficiency with collaborative partnerships. She will soon step into a new role: team manager for airport development west.
Remon Essers Aliende Moscoso, strategic network planner, Transavia
Remon has demonstrated a blend of operational, analytical and strategic expertise, moving from air traffic control into network planning at Transavia Airlines. Since joining the LCC in 2023, he has helped launch 24 new routes, including Tromsø, Tbilisi and a major expansion at Brussels, where Transavia has grown from one service to 12 routes, three based aircraft and more than 500,000 passengers annually. He is also leading the multi-year project to safeguard connectivity during Eindhoven Airport’s five-month runway closure, coordinating across departments, airports and tour operators. Additionally, Remon has developed innovative scenario models to mitigate risks from Dutch slot restrictions.
Ryan Caldwell, aviation insights manager, Newcastle Airport
Ryan has played a central role in securing new services at Newcastle Airport (NTL), Australia, including Jetstar’s year-round Bali route and Qantas’ new Perth–Newcastle connection, while driving regional collaboration through joint proposals with airports in Tasmania and Queensland. Drawing on his prior background in business analysis, he has introduced real-time dashboards, visual storytelling tools and cross-team insights that inform airline negotiations, marketing and government advocacy. With NTL preparing to open its international terminal in late 2025, Ryan’s contribution has been central to its trajectory, combining innovation, results and industry trust at an early stage in his career.
Vlad Lizarov, airport development manager, easyJet
In just three years, Vlad has progressed from a newcomer to leading major network projects at easyJet. After joining in 2022, he quickly advanced to airport development manager and stepped into the role of network manager for London in September 2025, overseeing one of the airline’s most critical regions. Vlad has already driven some of easyJet’s most high-profile expansions: the reopening of a base at London Southend Airport with three Airbus A320neos and more than 1 million annual seats; preparations for a new base at Newcastle in 2026; and the LCC’s entry into Cape Verde. Vlad combines rigorous commercial analysis with strong stakeholder engagement.
Zhuoyang Li, airline development department, traffic development division, Fukuoka International Airport
Since joining Fukuoka International Airport (FUK) in 2022, Zhuoyang has established strong relationships with carriers across East and Southeast Asia, driving FUK’s position as one of Japan’s fastest-recovering and fastest-growing international airports. Compared with 2019, FUK now leads all major Japanese airports in the recovery of flights and passenger volumes to mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Zhuoyang has played a central role in securing new and resumed routes, crafting high-quality business cases and helping airlines overcome operational challenges in Japan. His work on promotional initiatives—ranging from inflight campaigns to influencer partnerships—has stimulated demand.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERSHIP
Anindya Acharya, head of airline marketing and route development, GMR Hyderabad International Airport
Since becoming head of airline marketing and route development at GMR Hyderabad International Airport (HYD) in 2021, Anindya has transformed the airport from a perceived low-yield market into one of India’s fastest-growing international hubs. Under his leadership, HYD rose from the sixth to the fourth-busiest airport in India, recording about 17% year-on-year growth in fiscal 25. He helped to secure seven new international routes—including Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Madinah and Addis Ababa—and successfully reinstated Lufthansa and KLM flights. Anindya also positioned Hyderabad as a hub for medical and inbound tourism and undertaken initiatives to boost transfer traffic.
Balázs Bogáts, chief commercial officer, Calgary International Airport
Balázs has dedicated 25 years to aviation, shaping route development strategies that transformed airports across two continents. At Budapest Airport, he played a pivotal role in recovering from the collapse of Hungary’s national carrier in 2012, driving a bold diversification strategy that doubled passenger numbers from 9 million to 16 million within five years. By 2019, he had overseen the launch of 115 new routes and secured long-haul carriers including Emirates, American, Air Canada, Air China, Korean Air and LOT Polish Airlines. In 2024, he became CCO at Calgary International Airport, where 14 new routes launched in 2025 and traffic is set to reach 19 million.
Eric Fong, director of marketing department, Macau International Airport
Eric has shaped Macau International Airport’s growth for more than 20 years with innovative and resilient leadership. He transformed the airport’s traffic mix by recruiting LCCs after cross-strait reforms, pioneered fifth freedom routes to expand reach and oversaw record volumes of 9.6 million passengers in 2019. During the pandemic, he secured extended credit note terms that eased pressure on airline partners and later introduced digital livestream campaigns with airlines and online travel agents. His leadership also extended to multi-modal connectivity, linking Macau to the Greater Bay Area with 31 coach pick-up points and four service centers. He also contributes to Macau’s tourism strategy through senior government roles.
Kate Sherry, chief commercial officer, Belfast International Airport
Kate spent a decade at Ryanair, rising to director of route development and delivering bases and expansions across Europe, including Greece, Budapest, Copenhagen and Ukraine. After completing a master’s degree focused on leadership and governance, she joined Edinburgh Airport as aviation director in 2020, steering the airport through the pandemic. Under her leadership, Edinburgh not only recovered but surpassed pre-COVID traffic, expanded long-haul market share and introduced new carbon charges and incentives to advance sustainability. In 2024 she became CCO of Belfast International, where she is already fostering a renewed team spirit and vision.
Roberto de Oliveira Luiz, head of business aviation, Corporación América Airports
Roberto brings more than four decades of experience across airlines and airports. After early roles at Varig and Pluna, he joined Corporación América Airports in 2012, where he built the group’s air business strategy in Brazil, covering Brasília and Natal airports. Today, as head of aviation business development, he leads global airline partnerships across the group’s more than 50 airports. His impact includes securing 55 new airline partnerships and more than 550,000 incremental passengers in 2025 alone. Notable successes range from Wizz Air’s decision to base aircraft in Yerevan—launching 17 European routes and 600,000 seats—to new South American connectivity with Gol Airlines linking Buenos Aires, Punta del Este and Sao Paulo.
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