If air shows are as much about grabbing headlines as real behind-the-scenes business, next month's Farnborough International Air Show is unlikely to disappoint. For the first time, the air show has a sponsoring airline, Virgin Atlantic. Sir Richard Branson's company will use Farnborough to promote itself to passengers and potential employees - the carrier is recruiting again after axing hundreds of jobs in the wake of 11 September. Virgin is also likely to fly in its new Airbus A340-600, for which it is launch customer.
Even more front-page friendly is the possibility that the show could see the official hand-over of the four initial production Eurofighters to the air chiefs or defence ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. The handshake ceremony is not yet confirmed, but with the Eurofighter demonstrator set to take part in the air display, the event would deliver its manufacturer a welcome publicity boost for a fighter aircraft that will have to battle hard in procurement contests with veteran contenders such as the Lockheed Martin F-16 and the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Away from the high-profile aircraft debuts, order announcements and signing ceremonies, the UK's technological and research expertise and careers in aerospace are two themes the organiser, the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC), is keen to promote during the show - which takes place from 22-28 July. Ten months on from the terror attacks in the USA and the avalanche of job cuts which followed, the SBAC sees Farnborough as an opportunity for aerospace companies to again start marketing themselves to young engineers, pilots, accountants and other would-be recruits.
UK shop window
While the UK may have lost its last airframe programme since the previous Farnborough show with the demise of the BAE Systems RJX, the SBAC believes the event is still the best shop window for all that is best about the UK aerospace industry. "It's not about what we build [in the UK]," maintains SBAC director of marketing and business development David Norriss. "It's about the intellectual property held by UK companies. We retain world class capabilities in a small number of areas: propulsion with Rolls-Royce, wings with Airbus and systems and avionics with BAE and others. Look at the key role UK companies have with JSF."
Not that Farnborough International is a parochial event. It stopped being the showcase of exclusively UK industry in 1974 when overseas exhibitors were allowed in. Today, US companies particularly - which do not, of course, have their own home show - appreciate the fact it beats the domestic industry drum less vociferously than Paris, with which it alternates annually.
Level playing field
"Americans feel the playing field is more level with us," says Norriss. Farnborough is still smaller than its cross-Channel competitor, but appears to have seen off any threat from Berlin's biannual air show, ILA, which took place in May and hopes to oust its UK rival as the main European partner to Paris. Farnborough's other main plus is that it is, above everything else, a "premier business event", says Norriss. "It's seven days compared with Paris's nine. It's more compact than Paris, with a smaller flying display," he says. "But it's not about size; it's about being somewhere business gets done."
The SBAC has "shoehorned everybody in" to the 70,000m2 (755,000ft2) of exhibition and chalet space. The total of 1,200 exhibitors is slightly down on two years ago, but Norriss says this is due to industry consolidation rather than no-shows. Although virtually all the exhibitor deposits were lodged before 11 September, he says the only key changes since are regional aircraft builder Fairchild Dornier pulling out after going into bankruptcy protection and Boeing reducing the size of its stand, mainly because it lost the JSF contest to Lockheed Martin.
The only other difference is that many manufacturers have scaled back their levels of corporate hospitality for fear of being accused of insensitivity after laying off staff. What is unlikely to be repeated from the previous show is the record $52 billion of announced orders, almost double the 1998 figure. But, while the downturn on the commercial side is likely to depress the total, the SBAC is hoping for some high-profile announcements in the military sector, with the possibility of UK orders for BAE Systems Hawk trainers.
Farnborough International 2002 will be different to previous shows in several ways. For a start, in the light of the terror threat, security will be stepped up with an extra £500,000 ($700,000) budget, although Norriss insists it will be "barely noticeable" to exhibitors and visitors.
There will be airport-style metal detectors and searches at the gates and the exhibitors' car park, next to the halls, has been done away with. All but a small number of vehicles will have to be left outside the site. Because the entire Farnborough airport site is in the course of being transferred from the Ministry of Defence to TAG Aviation under a 25-year lease, MoD police inside the show will be replaced for the first time by local civilian police.
The TAG Aviation takeover will mean other changes. The runway will be available for flights throughout the show, except during flying displays. However, because the main apron will be in use, much of the static display - though not all - will be on the north side of the airfield, with a shuttle bus to transport visitors.
Source: Flight International