Details of Reed Exhibitions' plans for the debut of Asian Aerospace in Hong Kong in September 2007 began to take shape here yesterday with strong indicators that the emphasis will be on commercial rather than defence sectors.
Announcing a deal with Flight, a division of Reed Business Information, to manage an inaugural three-day aviation Congress, Reed Exhibitions chairman Mike Rusbridge stressed that the Hong Kong location would give participants direct access to the Chinese market.
“The decision to move from Singapore has of course been a tough one, but if we look ahead and see where the market is heading then Hong Kong is the right place to be. Forty per cent of all aircraft sales are in Asia and 15% of those are in China.
"That number is set to rise and Asian Aerospace will be pivotal in putting buyers and sellers together. With Flight on board we are able to combine world-class content provision and our own proven expertise in event organisation,” said Rusbridge, who refused to be drawn into a mine-is-bigger-than-yours debate about how many companies have signed up for the Hong Kong event.
Flight will provide content for the Congress. The focus will be educational and subjects include safety, training, traffic management and economics. “Our expertise is in content provision and of course with market leading brands in the aerospace publishing sector we have relationships which will add real value to Asian Aerospace and its delegates,” said Flight publishing director Jim Muttram.
Both Rusbridge and Muttram (pictured above) stressed that the focus of Asian Aerospace will be firmly on commercial aviation – the implication being that the renamed Singapore Airshow will retain a strong military bias while the commercial sector will be attracted to the benefits of an international show in China
Blog:
Read Flight International editor Murdo Morrison describe the relations between the Singaporean government and Asian Aerospace organisers at this year's show as they prepare to go their separate ways
Source: Flight Daily News