10th annual Routes Americas conference to plan new flights in North and South America

The aviation industry will gather in Las Vegas next week (Feb. 14-16) at the 10th annual Routes Americas conference to plan new flights in North and South America.

Routes Americas brings together airlines, airports and tourism authorities to develop new air services. It moves to a new city every year to highlight the diverse aviation markets across the Americas. The Las Vegas event will be the largest to date with 820 delegates taking part in 2,700 meetings.

Nearly half of Las Vegas' 42.9 million annual visitors travel by air and the airport generates $30 billion in local economic impact. The city held more than 21,000 meetings, trade shows and conventions in 2016 which supported 65,000 jobs.

McCarran International Airport and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) will host Routes Americas 2017. The leading airlines that will attend include American Airlines, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Delta Air Lines, jetBlue, Latam and United Airlines. Around 100 airlines, 260 airports and 40 tourism authorities are expected in total.

The latest issues and challenges facing the aviation industry will be debated at the event's Strategy Summit. The high profile speakers include Brian Hedberg, director of the Office of International Aviation at the U.S. Department of Transport; Roger Dow, president and CEO of U.S. Travel Association; and Peter Cerdá, regional vice president of International Air Transport Association.

This will be the second time that LVCVA and McCarran International Airport have brought a Routes event to the city. Las Vegas gained more than 120 weekly flights with an estimated annual economic impact of $440 million in direct visitor spending in the year after the event.

"The U.S. aviation market is the busiest in the world and it is expected to grow to 904 million passengers a year by 2025," said Steven Small, brand director of Routes.

The conference will be held at ARIA Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.