By Ellie Wells
The Routes World Awards has unveiled its highly anticipated shortlist for 2026, marking a milestone year with an unprecedented 60% increase in votes compared to 2025.
This surge in participation underscores the growing significance of the awards within the global route development community and recognising excellence across the industry.
This year’s awards include two significant enhancements: a brand-new Route of the Year category celebrating the most innovative and impactful new route launches, and an additional airport category to ensure more comprehensive recognition across different scales of operation.
Route of the Year: Air France – Orlando-Paris; Indigo – Athens-Delhi; LATAM – Brussels-São Paulo; Scoot – Vienna-Singapore and TAP – Los Angeles-Lisbon.
Under 5 Million Passengers: Bratislava Airport; Cardiff Airport; Cork Airport; Halifax Stanfield International Airport and Shannon Airport.
5-10 Million Passengers: Adelaide Airport; Cagliari Airport; Malta International Airport; Newcastle International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport.
10-17.5 Million Passengers: Da Nang International Airport; Edinburgh Airport; Helsinki Airport; Milan Bergamo Airport and Prague Airport.
17.5-30 Million Passengers: Brisbane Airport; Brussels Airport; New Chitose Airport; Oslo Airport and Vancouver International Airport.
Over 30 Million Passengers: Athens International Airport; Dublin Airport; Orlando International Airport; Rome Fiumicino Airport and Singapore Changi Airport.
Destination: Cape Town Air Access; Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority; Malta Tourism Authority; Moroccan National Tourist Office (MNTO) and Turismo de Portugal.
Airline: Aegean Airlines; Air Canada; LATAM Airlines; Transavia Airlines and Wizz Air.
Rising Star Award: Aymeric Le Leizour, Aviation Marketing Specialist at Melbourne Airport; Rachel Griffiths, Manager, Air Service Development at Halifax Stanfield International Airport; Saad Alzamel, Route Development Specialist at Cluster2 Airports; William Green, Aviation Development Manager at Edinburgh Airport and Wojciech Gluch, Airport Development Manager at easyJet.
Individual Leadership Award: Bobby Spann, Vice-President Air Service Development at CVG Airport Authority; Jonny Macneal, Head of Aviation at London Gatwick Airport; Peggy Croes, Senior Vice President Aviation Market Development at Curacao Airport Partners NV and Shaun Browne, Aviation Director at Bristol Airport.
The winners will be announced at the Routes World Networking Evening in Frankfurt on 22 October.
