The Dubai air show’s importance to global suppliers continues to soar, with oil revenues boosting the region’s spending power in the market

They don’t do things by half in Dubai, as anyone who has stayed in one of the city’s spectacular beachfront hotels will testify. The emirate, which in two decades has transformed from sleepy Arabian port to global hub, is going through a growth spurt unprecedented even by its own standards. Construction cranes pepper the skyline and office and apartment blocks rise monthly.

The statelet is becoming a victim of its own success, with traffic problems and lack of hotel rooms at busy times of the year. Dubai’s one-time flagship downtown international airport is creaking at the seams to handle the influx of passengers and, although the emirate prides itself on its open skies policy to airlines, slots are still difficult to come by.

But Dubai’s royal rulers are racing to provide new infrastructure. A city within a city is being built along the highway between Dubai and the neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi, along with new motorways, to relieve pressure on the old city centre. As part of this attempt to shift the centre of gravity westwards, a new airport is due to open in the industrial suburb of Jebel Ali in 2009.

Increased capacity

The biennial air show, currently held next to the airport, will move to Jebel Ali in 2009. Since the last show, the site has gained a third exhibition hall, increasing capacity by 30%. This, says Clive Richardson of organiser Fairs & Exhibitions, will help cope with the growth in exhibitor numbers from 550 in 2003 to 700 now. About 130 of these are new to the show, says Richardson.

In the global aerospace industry now, everyone wants to be friends with Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad and Qatar Airways, all of which have their own chalets at the show. Although the region’s three fast-expanding carriers have outlined their growth strategies for the next decade, there are still plenty of purchasing decisions to be made, from airframes and engines down to in-flight entertainment and interiors, pilot training and maintenance. Soaring oil revenues mean Dubai’s economic boom is being mirrored elsewhere in the region – in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – and this is also bringing expansion in the business aircraft sector as well as boosting potential defence budgets.

It is a region of the world where personal relationships with key decision-makers really matter and that is why everyone from Airbus and Boeing to subsystem and service providers will be wheeling out their big guns at Dubai.

Some major companies are still repairing the damage of their hasty decision to pull out of the 2001 show, held just weeks after 9/11. The decision by about 40 exhibitors to shun a show that is hosted by the same royal family that ultimately runs Emirates Airline, the airport and, in part, the United Arab Emirates armed forces, was a diplomatic disaster.

This year’s show will have a number of new features, designed to tap into some of the region’s emerging markets. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is hosting an unmanned air vehicle pavilion, and there will also be an area dedicated to training and simulation. The region’s business aviation community will have its first conference, on the Saturday before the show (19 November).

Richardson says there will be more aircraft on display than ever, with the Airbus A380 making its debut outside Europe and a first overseas air show appearance by Korea Aerospace Industries’ T-50 jet trainer. Gripen International – which sees a strong potential market in the Gulf – will have three of its Gripen fighters at the event.

With the business aviation sector growing, manufacturers will be there in force, with Bombardier and Raytheon bringing six aircraft, and Cessna, Dassault and Gulfstream represented.

MURDO MORRISON/LONDON

Source: Flight International