No contact till routes event
Actually CWL met Vueling and Click Air back at routes in 2006 for the first time.
Long before their merger and before either were large companies.
At that meeting and the following meetings the airlines were curious about the market but not keen on coming into the uk.
Meeting them every year at routes world and routes europe helped to raise the profile and awareness further. It is far from a jolly. Attending these events is all about what the attendees do to make them fruitful. Ask most airports and airline and they will tell you it is a very cost effective method of seeing loads of relevant customers for them over 3 days.
CWL mentioning it in the media this year is more about helping to change stakeholder perceptions. This is crucial this year as the Politicians have been showing little interest in the value of aviation over the last 10 years, until when it finally suited them to take a more pro-active interest earlier this year.