Are international air shows set to follow much of the rest of industry by consolidating? Many who pay to attend them certainly hope so
Talk to any aerospace marketing chief - especially in the USA - and the gripe will be the same: there are too many air shows and not enough budget or personnel to go round. Shows are a pricey, exhausting and often inefficient way of meeting customers and prospects. A chalet and stand at a major show can run to many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Factor in the cost of jetting in dozens of employees, hotels, transport and hospitality, not to mention the opportunity cost of having expensive executives out of position, and it is difficult to comprehend why - in the teeth of an industry downturn - many international air shows have not only survived but prospered.
The reason is that most manufacturers are terrified of not showing up when their competitors do. Companies that deserted the Dubai air show in December 2001 in the wake of 11 September paid heavily in terms of orders and reputation in the Gulf region. Two years later, most of them were back. The same fear of breaking ranks probably helped sustain Farnborough in 2002 and the past two Asian Aerospaces in Singapore.
But there are signs that the crunch may have come. Last week's ILA air show in Berlin had the backing of EADS and much of Germany's middle-ranking industry. But - with the ever-growing EBACE business aviation convention in Geneva later this month and Farnborough just two months away - ILA struggled to attract enough international visitors or exhibitors. Major players such as Boeing, BAE Systems, Dassault and Embraer stayed away, as did most business aircraft manufacturers. By the third day of the show, there appeared to be more people manning exhibition stands than visiting them.
Farnborough in July will be crucial. The US defence sector and government is likely to throw its weight behind the week-long event as a thanks for the Blair government's support in Iraq. Last year, many of these same companies punished France's reluctance to become involved in the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein by boycotting or reducing their presence at June's Paris air show.
But Farnborough's attempts to diversify into new sectors, such as business aviation, have been less successful - sandwiched as it is between the two big events in that sector, EBACE and the National Business Aviation Association convention in October in the USA. The show also faces an identity crisis: is it a business convention or an aviation spectacular? Are the flying displays to genuinely showcase aircraft to potential customers or simply entertainment for the punters?
The USA does not have an air show in the sense of a Paris or Farnborough. Instead, its niche conventions - such as NBAA, HAI for helicopters, RAA for regional airlines and I/ITSEC for training and simulation - are popular and profitable. In Europe too, specialist sector events are making the running. EBACE has grown spectacularly since NBAA decided to back the event four years ago. Events like Helitech and ERA for regional airlines also do well in their constituencies. They are typically indoor events (often with an outside static - but rarely a flying - display), with booths rather than chalets and with an accompanying workshop or conference programme.
The reason is relevance. Industry buyers love them. They tend to take place in purpose-built, air-conditioned convention centres and last a few days rather than over a week. They are manageable and convivial. Specialist manufacturers like Gulfstream or Cessna can achieve a high profile at an event such as EBACE - meeting the right people and promoting their products. At a Paris or Farnborough that same budget would see them dwarfed by the Boeings, EADS and Lockheed Martins.
Big shows, with their scale and spectacle, have a place. They are perfect for milestone events such as the Airbus A380 unveiling or first Joint Strike Fighter fly-past. They give tier three and four suppliers, who cannot normally get past a prime's marbled reception desk, a shop window to the entire industry.
It is becoming more and more difficult for Europe's three biggest aerospace nations to justify their own all-industry air show in a two-year cycle. Surely the best way forward is for European trade body AECMA to knock collective heads together and persuade BDLI, GIFAS and SBAC to create a genuine European show (maybe annually, maybe bi-annually) - with no national agenda. After all, the country associations are themselves decreasing in importance as research and development funding and defence spending becomes more pan-European.
Source: Flight International
