Three airlines—Iberia, Vueling and Wizz Air—have outlined what they want from airport meetings at Routes events, calling for contact ahead of the event, tailored pitches, local insights, prompt follow ups—and a firm no to lengthy PowerPoint presentations.
Speaking during a panel session at Routes Europe 2026 in Rimini, Italy, airline executives said airports should come prepared with detailed catchment data, clear route opportunities and coordinated support from tourism boards and local authorities.
“If you don't catch my attention in the first minute, it's gone,” Eszter Rozsahegyi, head of airport development for west and south Europe at Wizz Air, said during the session.
Rozsahegyi said airports should avoid presenting back airline performance metrics such as load factors and profitability, while also steering clear of lengthy presentations filled with generic airport imagery. “There will be a time for that, but it's not what you pitch with,” she said. “A 50-page long presentation. Definitely, no. Please, I will never open it.”
To win Wizz’s business, Rozsahegyi is looking for joined-up data from tourism boards and local government, access to connections with other stakeholders across the region and local insights. She wants airports to believe in the opportunity they are presenting and—ideally—to meet the airport and tourist board together, creating a story that she can sell to the board and passengers.
“I'm looking for you guys to come to me and tell me: ‘Fly this. This is the demand. You need to sell me your catchment,’” Rozsahegyi said. “Provide me the stuff only you can provide.”
Alongside detailed demand and segmentation data, Spain’s Vueling looks for an efficient operational set up to maximize aircraft utilization, risk sharing with airports and destinations, and long-term partnerships.
Vueling Network Director Manuel Vale wants airports to know their airline customers, “keep communication flowing” between Routes events, and to not wait to share ideas. He also welcomed joint meetings with tourist boards, simple incentives and airports asking what data the Vueling team wants ahead of time.
“Go with one or two opportunities,” Vale said. “Just make it clear. A lot of the times less is more, so just go straight to the point.”
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Pablo Navarro, Senior Manager for Airport Affairs at International Airlines Group carriers Iberia and Level, said airports should discuss route proposals and data requirements ahead of meetings rather than relying solely on incentives.
“If any airports present the first time [with] money or incentives, I think it's not the proper way,” Navarro said. “We have to analyze the [business] case.”
However, Rozsahegyi disagreed, arguing that incentives remain a critical part of route evaluation. “How would I even know if a route, a base, makes sense if I don't know what it's going to cost me?” she said.
When quizzed by the moderator on whether Wizz had ever paid the “rack rate” for a route, Rozsahegyi replied: “No, I don't think we have.” But she noted that incentives could vary, including deals on office space or parking.
Stephanie Wear, chief commercial officer at Edinburgh Airport, said incentives should support route launches but not replace long-term commercial viability.
“Incentives are a great tool, but they are a tool,” Edinburgh Airport CCO Stephanie Wear said. “It is not always needed, and I don't believe in subsidies that are eternal.
“The route eventually needs to stand on its own, because what's the point of operating it if it continuously needs to be subsidized for the rest of its life to be anywhere near break-even? That's not good for the airport, and that's not good for the airline.”
Wear said it is essential for airports to tell a compelling story about the catchment, sharing new developments and insights that airlines would not necessarily know. This should be shared succinctly, with a solid understanding of the airline’s business model. She also recommends agreeing a clear follow-up plan, for data and next actions. Offering to send the presentation is not enough.
“It's not about bringing in a new carrier and starting a new route. It's how do you develop it over the long term,” she said. “The worst thing for an airport is for a carrier to start and then leave and not be successful, because then you answer a whole lot of questions in other meetings with other airlines going: ‘Well, they started and that didn't work, so what happened there?’”
Source: Victoria Moores (Routes)
