By Sangeeta Saxena
New Delhi/Paris. 16 June 2023. The wait is over and it is time to for all roads to lead to Le Bourget, Paris. The ocassion is Paris Air Show of 2023, where one and all of the aviation world will descend to be a part of the biggest aviation event. It is not just French wine, Eiffel Tower and Seine River which are cynosure of all eyes in Paris. Come the Parisian summer and the sky is the centre of attraction with metal birds of all shapes and sizes regaling the city with their displays. And this time with a vengence, as last time in 2021 June Covid-19 played villian and the show had to get cancelled because of the pandemic which took the world by storm.
In decades of our covering show, this was the saddest news for airshow enthusiasts, when the show organisers had to take the decision to cancel the 2021 edition, due to the health hazards created by the corona virus.. Odd year and no airshow at Le Bourget Paris. The airport, the metro rail service popularly called RER and hotels in and around Le Bourget will not be streaming with exhibitors and visitors. But this is now past and the wait just got over. The 54th Paris Air Show will open to aviation enthusiasts, professionals and the huge strength of aerospace and defence industry in 2023, after the cruel break.
With expected 2,300 international exhibitors, 150,000 trade visitors, 30 national pavilions and almost 300 official delegations, the Paris Air Show is still the biggest show of its kind and a must-attend event for all professionals working in the aeronautics and space sector. All major manufacturers , complete spare parts and ancillary industry, 100 start-ups that will shape tomorrow’s skies will and 296 official military and civilian delegations promise to make the show the brand it is.
The International Paris Air Show is organised by the SIAE, a subsidiary of GIFAS, the French Aerospace Industries Association. The 54th show will take place at the Le Bourget Parc des Expositions from 19 to 25 June 2023, and once again will bring together all the players in this global industry around the latest technological innovations. The first four days of the Show will be reserved for trade visitors, followed by three days open to the general public.
Industry at it’s maximum participation envisages Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Rolls Royce, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, SAAB, Honeywell, Embraer, KAI, Pilatus, Dassault Aviation, Hawker Beechcraft, CFM, Israeli ompanies, SirkoskyLM, Cobham, Goodrich and Eurocopter to name a few along with government agencies taking up sprawling spaces at the show.
Since its launch in 1909, the International Paris Air Show has constantly grown, and remains the largest aerospace event in the world. For its third edition, the Paris Air Lab takes you to the heart of a new revolution in air transport, today in the throws of a global transition to decarbonized travel. In response to international commitments to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, a vast network of programmes, research projects and technological breakthroughs will be brought to life in an exciting, educational circuit hosted in its own 1000 m2 space in the heart of the show.
At the Paris Air Show, the Avion des Métiers is the essential meeting point between the expectations of young people and the needs of the French aerospace industry. The Avion des Métiers allows to meet professionals in the sector to discuss their jobs and their daily contribution to the sector’s ecological and energy transformation.
GIFAS (French Aerospace Industries Association) is offering an area dedicated to careers, employment and training in the aerospace industry, air transport and national defence. The Careers Plane-Job and Training Forum provide an occasion to discover this cutting-edge industry hands-on, and talk to the men and women who work in the aerospace sector each day. With its central island offering immersive videos on the aerospace trades, the Careers plane is a place for visitors to meet men and women who work in the aerospace sector every day. A unique opportunity to meet those who design, produce, sell and maintain aircraft, and to see and touch the final product, from engines and helicopter propeller blades to aeroplane seats and altimeters.
The aerospace industry is changing and has no choice but to ambitiously innovate to be ready for the new technological and societal challenges. The Paris Air Show reflects this evolution by welcoming French and international start-upsThe Show gives Start-ups the opportunity to create encounters and synergies on forward-looking themes: the environment, new on-board energies, digital technologies, big data, artificial intelligence, new space, the factory of the future, new materials, the Vehicle of the future, the passenger experience and other things. Almost 296 Start-ups from 21 countries are welcomed at the heart of the event. This initiative created a real dynamic and an effervescence of exchanges.
Just at the entry/exit to the show is the Air and Space museum is one of the top aviation museums in the world with more than 40,000 items it has started to collect since the early 20th century, the museum is protected by the “Musée de France” status. Visitors can discover about a hundred aircrafts among the 400 composing its collections, from the very first planes to the Breguet 19 “Point d’interrogation”, the Spitfire and the Concorde. The museum also owns an exceptional art collection, models, engraving, toys, and ethnographic items.The place the Air and Space museum has been built on is very important and full of memory. Le Bourget is a place that has seen many aviation heroes, including Charles Lindbergh.
