Organisers of the Paris air show have no intention of matching Farnborough’s cancellation of weekend public display flying, insisting that such a measure has never been considered.
Farnborough’s next air show in 2020 will be cut to a five-day trade-focused event after its management company axed the traditional two-day open session attended by enthusiasts and spectators.
But French aerospace industries association GIFAS, whose subsidiary SIAE organises the Paris show, says it welcomed 180,000 public visitors to the event in 2017, alongside 142,000 trade visitors.
While GIFAS declines to comment on the Farnborough decision, a spokesman for the association says there is “certainly not” any question of a similar cancellation of the public weekend event at Le Bourget.
“[SIAE] has never considered such a situation and this question has never been set on the table,” he says, adding that the organisation has no concerns about the benefit of the public days.
“Sharing with the public is part of the DNA of our show. History between the public and our industry is a passion and a love story.
“Most of our engineers, pilots, workers have seen their vocation born at the Paris air show.”
Both the trade and the public days, he adds, are important and each brings its “own added value”. The public will be invited to attend three days of this year's Paris show, from 21-23 June.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
