O N T O U R: Dubai Air Show ” Growing Fast
Last week the 8th Dubai Air Show took place on a purpose-built site within the boundaries of the international airport (and in fact a 10 minute taxi ride along busy dual carriageways). Whilst not on the same scale as its British and French competitors it attracted 550 exhibitors from 36 countries and 13 national areas including for the first time Jordan and the Ukraine. Some 85 aircraft were displayed with 23 participating in the afternoon air show, with the chalet balconies packed to capacity. Dubai has bounced back from its problems of two years ago. Held in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, then there were just 450 exhibitors. There is talk of doubling the exhibition area for 2005 and with business booming in the whole of the Gulf area it would need another serious drop in business confidence for the UK-based show organisers Fairs & Exhibitions not to exploit the position.
The Dubai exhibition site is less than 20 minutes from the downtown business area of the city, and perhaps 30 minutes from the beach resort area where many delegates choose to stay. Taking place simultaneously were the Middle East Aviation Finance Conference, the Middle East Aviation IT Managers Forum, the Department of Civil Aviation Dubai Forum and the Air Chiefs Conference. In terms of layout there are two major permanent exhibition halls, not dissimilar to Le Bourget, a single row of chalets on either side of the central area, each a quarter mile long, and a secure aircraft parking area in front of the chalets with admission severely limited.
What was the star of the show? Probably the Harrier, for the umpteenth time, news filtering in from the US that McDonnell Douglas had delivered last week the very last Americanised version of the aircraft, an AV8B Harrier II to the Spanish Navy, this after a 20 year production run. The various US, French and Russian fighters demonstrated prodigious rates of climb into a clear blue sky whilst the very long and skinny looking Airbus A340-600 was gracefully put through its paces and Pakistan showed that it too could build aircraft with the little Super Mushshak trainer. Local airline Emirates put on display its latest Airbus A340-500 with its further upgraded first and business class. The airline claims to have solved the time zone/jet lag problem by programming the interior lighting in a manner designed to match sleep patterns.
Embraer took the opportunity not only to show and display the EMB 170, but also to demonstrate it to potential customers around the Gulf. With final flight-testing complete and a provisional C of A issued by the FAA it has now only to clear the paperwork. The aircraft itself offers 2 + 2 seating in an economy layout, 32” seat pitch, and overhead bins easily capable of taking roller bags of a size permissible by the UK”s budget carriers. It has a surprisingly quiet cabin, even under maximum power at take off, full size toilets and no problems with hold capacity often the nadir of small jets. It is a grown up 50-passenger EMB 145 rather than a scaled down 120 seater.
Dubai is also about business jets, with Qatar Airways announcing its Global Express order (see above) Bombardier also represented by other aircraft in its range of Challenger and Learjet equipment. Dassault had a pair of Falcons, Embraer showed the Legacy development of the EMB 135, Gulfstream displayed all three current models, various Citations could be seen, whilst at the larger end of the market both Airbus and Boeing were represented. The propjet Piaggio Avanti looked sleek with its protruding fins at the front and Pilatus showed what can be achieved with just a single engine. And to escape the heat the air conditioned halls provided showcases for a multitude of hardware and service producers. http://www.dubaiairshow.org