Two years ago, many were writing the obituaries of the Farnborough air show. We were among those who doubted that the event had a long-term future in an industry with ever-shrinking marketing budgets and threatened on the one hand by a dominant global must-attend in Paris every other year and, on the other, by a flurry of successful sector-specific or regional shows.
And yet, anyone coming to Farnborough this week will arrive on a site busier and with more buzz about it than for years. One of the reasons is that, rather than accept the slow, managed decline of a mature business that was nevertheless still likely to make money for a long time, the organisers did something about it. The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) listened to its customers - members and non-members alike - and realised that, as a rather lumbering trade body, it was not best-suited to running an event that had to be innovative and nimble to exhibitors' and visitors' changing needs.
So the SBAC hived off Farnborough to a wholly owned, but autonomous, exhibitions company, which has made significant changes to the structure of the show - shortening the opening Monday, moving buildings, introducing a Youth Day and simply creating the impression of an organisation there to serve its customers, rather than the other way around.
Another reason is that the industry is going through an upturn that - while it may not last for ever - is certainly proving resilient to the sorts of economic upsets that might in the past have sent it into retreat, from the general security threat around the world to soaring oil prices. At this year's Farnborough, much of the talk is about the Airbus crisis. And, it's true the European airframer is going through a torrid time. But its production lines are busier than ever. Its flagship aircraft may be delayed and customers unhappy. But the superjumbo is flying in all its glory at Farnborough. The show - while not the best timing for its new chief executive - will give Christian Streiff and his team the opportunity to prove to the world that Airbus has no intention of giving up the fight. It could be a bullish, rather than bowed, Airbus that will be on display this week at Farnborough.
Several exhibitors will use Farnborough as the platform to showcase new aircraft never seen before in public, or, in the case of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, to properly launch themselves on the world stage. The enterprise's distinctive branding will be everywhere this week. The business - which still exists in little more than name - has plans to be a global player in everything from maintenance, repair and overhaul to aviation training, financing to airport management.
This week, DAE is unveiling its new chief executive, former Honeywell Aerospace veteran Bob Johnson. The fact that it has chosen an American, and a fully paid-up member of that country's aerospace establishment, shows its intentions to convince sceptics in the USA - in the wake of the Dubai Ports World debacle - that Arab-owned companies will not bite.
For other manufacturers at Farnborough, the UK remains an enticing defence market, success in which can often spark success in North America and elsewhere. That is why Finmeccanica and EADS - as well as the big boys from the USA - are at the show in such force.
However, there is a further reason for Farnborough's continuing buoyancy. In this multi-media age of video conferencing, "webinars" and other methods of virtual communication, nobody has yet invented a better way of spending such quality time with customers, partners and suppliers as a well-attended air show.
Marketeers may moan about pressure on their budgets; journalists and blue-chip chief executives alike about the exhausting schedule of travel, late nights and rushing from one appointment to the next; and, being England, everyone has something to say about the July weather - either stiflingly hot or pouring rain. But the fact is that air shows like Farnborough work as an efficient use of time, and, for most of us, are a lot of fun too. That's why, over the next few days, you will see dozens of industry movers and shakers, whose diaries are filled with 15-minute precision months ahead, choosing to spend time in an otherwise sleepy commuter town in Hampshire.
Source: Flight International
