Aviation industry spurred on by 18th AERO EXPO

Following an impeccable take-off and four successful trade show days, the 18th International Trade Fair for General Aviation concluded with a perfect three-point landing. 39,700 visitors from Germany and around the world were impressed by the many business jets, propeller aircraft and helicopters on display, while the new electrically powered aircraft enjoyed special media interest. Nine halls were filled with roughly 500 exhibitors. "Europe´s leading General Aviation trade show has pointed the way in a number of important areas," CEO Klaus Wellmann positively concluded on Sunday. "There´s a sense of optimism in the industry again, and many of the exhibitors are highly satisfied with how the trade show went," added AERO Project Director Thomas Grunewald, as the trade show came to a successful close. The sales efforts of numerous exhibitors also paid off. Among them was Italian aircraft manufacturer TECNAM, which on Sunday reported the sale of 28 aircraft, while its Austrian venture partner Airborne Technologies clinched the first sale of its TECNAM MMA upon the product´s launch at AERO.
Let´s take a closer look at the Aero 2010 Highlights:

Luscombe Silvaire LSA - Savage - Pioneer - Elec powered Yuneec e430 - Italian aerobatic UL Dallair FR01

Pipistrel Sinus - increasing demand for class cockpits - elektra one - FV03

Oratex UL600 Lanitz Prena - charming aero @ TL Aircraft and Kai Aviation booth´s - EC135 Cockpit - Citation

Extra 330LT & SC - Aero static - Pilatus PC12 - F4F Phantom

Strong internationalization

AERO Friedrichshafen´s international significance continues to grow. The portion of non-German companies among this year´s 504 exhibitors was 45 percent, representing a further significant rise. A total of 608 journalists from 30 countries were accredited for this year´s edition of AERO. The strength of international interest is underlined by the fact that fully half of journalists covering AERO 2010 were from outside Germany. "We noticed that the portion of visitors from abroad has grown considerably", Matthias Betsch (Managing Director, Flight Design) said. Meanwhile, trade visitors hailed from 31 countries and five continents, representing a considerable increase in international flights destined for Friedrichshafen. Hans Weiss (Managing Director, Airport Friedrichshafen) underlined "Our airport is an important AERO partner. After all, our runway facilitates 60 movements an hour. To give you an idea of our top performance, Frankfurt´s airport manages 83 movements with two runways. During AERO, we log between 300 and 400 aircraft a day. Altogether, we have twelve air traffic controllers and three assistants on duty." According to a trade show survey, two thirds of visitors were licensed pilots, and their purchasing power and readiness was correspondingly high: Fully 56 percent of visitors placed orders for aircraft, while roughly 10 percent indicated their intention to spend 100,000 euros or more in the aftermath of the trade show. Furthermore, exhibiting companies rated the visitors´ level of (for the most part aviation-related) sophistication and knowledge as very high, like a statement of Siegfried Lanitz (Managing Director, Lanitz Prena) confirmed: "We received a crowd of high-quality visitors at our booth, and are very satisfied with AERO 2010."

Airshowtime

For year´s the Airshow was a popular part of the Aero, but now it´s time to say goodbye. During Aero 2010 we saw the last edition of an Aero Airshow (AA), for future exhibitions the display is canceled. It will become a part of the Klassikwelt Bodensee.
Nevertheless the last ever AA occupyed an stunning show schedule, covering the range from silent gliding til up to blustering jet displays, both in formation as well. Very experienced Display Director Verena Dolderer and her crew, organised an perfect show with lots of aerobatic participents (including state of the art competitors like the Extra 330SC/XtremeAir Sbach 342 as well as traditional Yak-55) and the tremendous Flying Bulls. They send the crown jewel of their impressiv fleet to Friedrichshafen, the one and only flying P-38L Lightning in Europe. Sigi Angerer, the Flying Bulls chief pilot displayed the unique legend in front of thousands enthusiastic spectators.

Conclusion

All in all most of the exhibitors, visitors and nevertheless the trade fair organizer Messe Friedrichshafen came to a positiv feedback. "This year´s AERO fully met our expectations. We succeeded in making some direct sales and expect good post-trade show business", Christian Majunke (Director of Development, Remos Aircraft) concluded for instance. The chance to the annual cycle of the fair, this time was still welcomed, but certain well-known exhibitors and almost the complete gliding section were missed already. Despite this fact Werner Siebert (Siebert Luftfahrtbedarf) summed "AERO 2010 has been better than we expected, following the change to an annual cycle. On the whole, we´ve been happy with the quality and volume of visitors to our booth." If the annual cycle will be accepted as positiv as this time in the future too - we will see.
The next AERO takes place at the Messegelände in Friedrichshafen now from Wednesday April 13 to Saturday April 16, 2011 and til then it´s goodbye from Friedrichshafen.
Impressions

Text: © Mathias Grägel / Messe Friedrichshafen
Bilder: © Charly & Mathias Grägel / Messe Friedrichshafen / GME-AirFoto April 2010