Athens International Airport secured the Overall Winner and Over 20m passenger category at the Routes World Awards 2025, handling 31.9m passengers in 2024, with a 6.8pc traffic increase in the first eight months of 2025.
Halifax Stanfield International Airport won the Under 5m category, expanding to 48 destinations with 18 airlines, including eight new routes in 2025, boosting transatlantic capacity by 25pc.
Stuttgart Airport took the 5-10m category, connecting to over 40 countries with 30 new airlines and destinations, catering to leisure, business, and ethnic markets.
Prague Airport, winner of the 10-20m category for the second year, served 16.4m passengers in 2024 and anticipates 17.8m in 2025, with 180 destinations and 27 new routes.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority won the Destination category, achieving 35.5m inbound seats in 2025, a 22pc rise from 2019, across 174 nonstop markets with 34 airlines.
Daria Sergeeva shared: “Winning the Rising Star award is a great career milestone and I hope it inspires others—especially young professionals and women in aviation—to believe in their potential. Aviation has always challenged me to grow, innovate and lead with purpose, and I am excited to continue contributing to the future of our amazing industry.”
Ioanna Papadopoulou shared: “We are super excited to have been presented with the highly prestigious Routes World Award. This award is a recognition of our team’s hard work and a celebration of dedication, vision, partnership and teamwork! A huge thank you to our airlines for their vote of trust in the Athens market.”
Christopher de Man shared: “This award showcases the bold work of our team, the confidence of our airline partners and the growing connectivity Halifax Stanfield delivers for our region. We thank Routes for shining a spotlight on our efforts and for uniting the industry to celebrate how we collectively connect the world by air.”
Christoph Kenner and Laura Fauth-Bischoff shared: “This recognition highlights the dedication of our team and the strength of our airline partnerships, who trust STR as a dynamic and reliable gateway.”
Jiri Vyskoc shared: “Winning this prestigious award for the second year in a row is an exceptional achievement and a strong signal that our work continues to deliver long-term, internationally recognised results. Defending our title in such strong global competition confirms the quality of our approach to route development and airline partnerships.”
Steve Hill shared: “Being recognised as Best Destination by Routes World is a powerful testament to our city’s global appeal and continued evolution. With unprecedented air service, including a record number of nonstop markets served and seats into Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas is more accessible than ever.”
Shane Lord shared: “We are very proud to have won the Airline award, which recognises easyJet’s strategic network expansion, our commitment to connectivity and strong partnerships with airports and tourism boards around Europe and beyond. We celebrate our 30th birthday this year, having in that time changed the way people fly by democratising travel and making it accessible to a wider range of people.”
Roberto de Oliveira Luiz shared: “I would like to thank the airlines for the honour of being the winner of this prestigious award, which motivates me even more to continue working hard to increase the air connectivity at our airports.”
Routes World Awards 2025 winners:
- Under 5 Million: Halifax Stanfield International Airport
- 5-10 Million: Stuttgart Airport
- 10-20 Million: Prague Airport
- Over 20 Million: Athens International Airport
- Destination: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
- Airline: easyJet
- Rising Star: Daria Sergeeva, Airport Development Manager, Wizz Air
- Individual Leadership: Roberto de Oliveira Luiz, Head of Business Aviation, Corporacion America Airports
- Overall Winner: Athens International Airport
