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Sixth annual Cannes AirShow makes splash

During the three day show organizers welcomed just under 8,500 visitors with the majority attending from France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland. This year also saw the presence of African delegates supporting the fact that this is a rapidly growing region for the aviation market, and reflecting the strong ties between northern Africa and France. Showing the increasingly international nature of the show one visitor even made it from the other side of the world registering as visiting from New Zealand. Flight movements recorded at Cannes Mandelieu Airport which increased from the average 300 movements over three days to 930.

Exhibitor numbers matched the 2011 event with 150 aeronautical and aviation exhibitors presenting over 300 different aviation brands and products. Flight schools such as Air et Compagnie joined aviation technology companies including Lightspeed, BOSE and Jeppesen, alongside OEMs including Embraer, participating for the sixth year running, and Dassault making a debut appearance with its Falcon 200LX model.

A particular highlight was the debut presentation of its Cirrus SR22T Porsche aircraft which exhibited alongside a matching Porsche so adding further glamour to the event. Cirrus also used the show as an opportunity to deliver a brand new SR-20 to Cassidian Aviation Training Services, the EADS company that provides training for the French army. This precedes the delivery of a further 20 aircraft ordered by the army.

Notable orders came from JMB Aviation, manufacturer of the ultra-light VL3, which sold five aircraft from the static; and Piper aircraft which confirmed the sale, via Winters Aviation, its representative in Europe, of a new M-Class single-engine aircraft destined for a business owner in Spain. This was the tenth M-Class sold into Europe this year. Other OEMs including Embraer which exhibited its Phenom 100, 300 and Legacy 650 models and Daher Socata made comments on the excellent quality of the visitors, with some anticipating sales as a result of initial meetings.

Saturday of the show focused on the importance of aviation training and education when the “Brevet d’initiation Aéronautique,” BIA, a diploma awarded to students aiming to be a pilot, was presented by the French School Academy to 300 students planning a career in aviation.  “This show better than any other demonstrates the breadth of themes General Aviation covers. Along with aviation training, information, trends and industry expertise are brought together for a market focused on improving and building a stronger General Aviation community of pilots and private owners in Europe,” said Didier Mary, MD of Adone Events the show organiser. 

The 2013 three day event will take place during 6 – 8 June  and promises to be an even greater affair with new media partners, more exhibitors and confirmed attendance already from 80% of those attending this year. “We’re delighted to announce that Cessna Aircraft Company has already reserved its booth space for the 2013 show. It’s a real vote of confidence from this very important OEM, and we already anticipate that other key manufacturers who experienced a positive 2012 show will join us again next year” continued Mary.

Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2013 dates confirmed

Yousif Al Hammadi, Acting General Manager of Al Bateen, the Middle East’s only dedicated aviation airport, used the forum as an opportunity to officially announce the dates for Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2013. Following on from the success of this year’s debut airshow, which was held in March, Hammadi announced that next year’s event would take place between March 5-7. “The partnership between Cannes AirShow and Al Bateen ensured an excellent first general aviation show in the Middle East this year, and we will now begin to build on the experience and make an even better show for 2013,” concluded Mary.