Dubai International Airport has been awarded the “Highly Commended” certificate for ‘Best Airport Marketing’ in the Category of Airports handling 15-25 million passengers per annum at Routes 2004 Conference in Madrid, Spain. The award received by Mrs Anita Mehra Homayoun, Director Marketing and Corporate Communications, Department of Civil Aviation Dubai. Munich came in first in the category, followed by Dubai in the second place. The awards ceremony and gala dinner was attended by over 1200 distinguished  guests from the travel, airline and aviation industry.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed  Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman, Emirates, commented : "Dubai International Airport is proud to have received this award. The Marketing & Corporate Communications division of the Department of Civil Aviation has always been very active and this award is the result of our aggressive marketing efforts. The implications of this award are much higher since it was voted by decision makers and routes planner within the airline industry.”

With this the total number of awards won by Dubai International Airport stands at 37.

The Dubai International Airport marketing effort included the ‘Why Dubai’ advertising campaign on CNBC and the ongoing ‘Cultural Voyage’ on CNN which reached nearly a billion people; Press advertisement in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and US in publications such as Time, Newsweek and Business Week; banners on Emirates and Dubai International Airport websites; marketing presentations to airlines; exhibitions and roadshows and press relations.

Routes 2004, held in Madrid from September 26th to 28th, witnessed a major presence by DCA, Dubai. For the first time DCA took a chalet at forum which was designed with an Arabic ambience, giving visitors a taste of Arab culture and hospitality.

A five member delegation headed by Mrs Anita Mehra Homayoun, Director, Marketing and Corporate Communications, DCA, was present at the chalet to meet targeted airline representatives. The airline representatives were shown a special presentation on Dubai International Airport, its existing facilities and future plans. The response from airlines was phenomenal. Over 30 airlines and eight major international airports showed keen interest in Dubai International Airport.

Mrs Anita Mehra Homayoun, commented: “We have been participating in the Routes Forum for eight years now. Each year the forum has grown bigger and bigger and we are able to reach many airline representatives and present the success story of Dubai International Airport. We now have 105 airlines connecting to over 140 destinations worldwide. Dubai has developed into a major destination for tourism and business making it a profitable route for airlines. Besides, Dubai’s open skies policy makes it very favourable for any airline to come to Dubai.”

The purpose for attending Routes Forum is to invite more airlines to Dubai. Each year the international community of airport and airline route development professionals gathers at a single location to participate in Routes - The World Route Development Forum.  Routes reflects the growing importance of commercial relationships between airlines and airports. Airlines and airports are joined at Routes by third parties with a vested interest in air service development, such as tourism and economic development authorities.

Routes revolves around a series of formal, productive and pre-arranged one-to-one meetings between airports and airlines, interspersed with social occasions designed to create further informal networking opportunities. Over 10,000 meetings took place at Routes in this year.

The Routes Annual Airport Marketing Awards, is organised by Airport Strategy & Marketing Limited (ASAM) and sponsored by OAG Worldwide, a division of Reed Business Information. Routes 2004 was attended by approximately 120 airlines and 300 airports worldwide.

For further information: Lavina Dixit Chatterjee, Senior Officer, Press Relations & Communications, DCA Marketing & Corporate Communications, P.O. Box  2525, Dubai, UAE. Tel: (+9714) 2061215; Fax (+9714) 2244703; email: ldc@dca.gov.ae