Nobody needs an excuse to go to Paris. This week in particular for aviation geeks.
Paris is host to the biennial Paris Air Show. It’s happening right now! The Paris Air Show is when the manufacturers flog their latest and greatest airliners. Obviously Boeing and Airbus are there in force. The big players in the regional market such as Embraer and Bombardier are there as well. COMAC of China, Sukhoi of Russia – among others that are trying to enter the market or expand into new market segments – will be there as well. If you have anything to sell to the commercial or military aviation markets you must be there. The Paris Air Show can make or break a manufacturer. It is that important.
The airline manufacturers, particularly Airbus, often wait until Paris to make announcements of major orders. New aircraft types or updates to lines are announced as well, as the entire aviation world is watching. There’s no better place to make a big splash than at the Paris Air Show.
The first half is an industry-only trade show. Airline CEOs and manufacturer sales teams wheel and deal orders that can run well into the billion-dollar price range.
The second half of the Paris Air Show is open to the public. You can get up close and personal with aircraft that are on display. Of course aircraft such as the A380 or 787 Dreamliner will be there. The smaller vendors that may not break into the international market in great numbers will have their products on display as well. Seeing their planes can be a once in a lifetime experience. Along with the static displays, there are also aircraft flight demonstrations. You need to make sure you have spare batteries and memory cards for this experience!
Aviation history is made in Paris. We aviation geeks get to experience it first hand.