Dubai Airshow 2009 Attracts Top Business Jet Suppliers

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Dubai Airshow 2009 has attracted a record number of business aviation manufacturers and service providers to participate in the 11th running of the event. Organised by F&E Aerospace, the biennial airshow is the foremost aerospace event in the Middle East and the fastest growing in the world. So far, Gulfstream, Hawker Beechcraft, Bombardier Aerospace, among more than 100 business aviation companies, have contracted space at Dubai Airshow 2009. Space uptake in general for Dubai Airshow 2009, which will run from 15th to 19th November at the Dubai Airport Expo Centre, continues to grow despite the uncertain economic climate.

Organisers are already expecting to overtake the amount of space sold for the previous show in 2007, prompting an expansion of facilities at Dubai Airport Expo to incorporate an additional exhibition hall.

Alison Weller, Director F&E Aerospace, expressed her appreciation for the number of business aviation companies who have already booked to participate at Dubai Airshow 2009.

The aviation industry is facing one of its most challenging years with the current economic downturn, especially the more specialised business jet firms, prompting suppliers and service providers to look to more resilient markets, such as the Middle East.

"Business aviation remains a key element of the Dubai Airshow and we are pleased to welcome back our valued clients, who number among the world's top business jet manufacturers and service providers, in addition to new companies seeking to build business relationships within the region, " she added.

Ms Weller also pointed out that F&E Aerospace has re-affirmed its commitment to the United Nation's World Food Programme (UNWFP) by more than doubling its free-of-charge space for Dubai Airshow 2009.

"Business Aviation plays an important role as a lifeline to communities not served by commercial airlines and Dubai Airshow 2009 will serve as an ideal platform to bring together air service providers and the UNWFP which has a regional base in Dubai, " she said.

The show set a precedent in corporate social responsibility in 2007 by being the first exhibition to donate space to the UNWFP, which charters aircraft and sources logistical assistance from hundreds of contractors to deliver aid in times of disaster and crisis.

In addition to Dubai Airshow 2009, F&E Aerospace organises MEBA, the Middle East's premier business aviation event.

MEBA 2010, from 7th to 9th December at Dubai Airport Expo Centre, has already seen 40 per cent re-bookings from its 2008 event. Some 250 exhibitors from 30 countries struck US$1.5 billion worth of deals at the show, attended by some 5,500 visitors.

According to the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA), the Middle Eastern market is set to expand 15 to 20 per cent per annum over the next four years, to become a US$1 billion industry. Similarly, a recent report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) declared that the Middle East region "will be growing while others are stagnating".

CAPA Chairman, Peter Harbison, said: "A picture emerges of a potentially remarkable and long-term sustainable growth path in the Middle East, rather than an excessive, unplanned, over-hyped bubble which is about to burst, as many outside the region, and some within, may believe."

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