Friedrichshafen Trade Show Draws Record Numbers Of Visitors,
Exhibitors, Press
The 17th International Trade Exhibition for General Aviation,
held in Friedrichshafen, Germany last weekend proved to be a big
success for everyone involved - including exhibitors, attendees,
and its organizers - giving every indication that General Aviation
is alive and well in Europe... and better yet, that relief from the
economic downturn may be just around the corner.
Over 46,400 visitors representing 40 different countries came in
droves to the four-day event, of which 70 percent were pilots. This
year's AERO boasted 625 exhibitors, a 12 percent increase over the
last show.
"This international character makes the AERO very appealing for
us," said Kenneth Keith of Extra Aircraft.
Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellmann lauded the show's
generally positive results, saying, "With its great success and the
enormously positive feedback from exhibitors, the AERO has once
again shown that the exhibition in Friedrichshafen is Europe's
leading trade show for general aviation."
"The AERO has impressively demonstrated that it continues to
grow in a difficult market environment and is an important platform
and a major mouthpiece for the industry," added AERO Project
Manager Thomas Grunewald.
Instead of convening once every two years, from now on the
International Trade Exhibition for General Aviation at
Friedrichshafen will be an annual event, with the next show, AERO
2010, slated for April 8-11, 2010.
The AERO is a big international media event, too. Media
representatives came from countries such as South Africa, Japan,
Russia, the US, Canada, Israel and the Arab Emirates to attend the
event in Friedrichshafen. A total of 14 television crews ensured
that videos of the air show were seen around the world, and 738
journalists from 30 countries set a new record for the number of
media representatives. The strong attraction of the AERO is
underscored by the fact that one out of every two journalists came
from abroad.
One of this year's highlights was the announcement of a
strategic relationship between Messe Friedrichshafen and the
Experimental Aircraft Association. "Both organizations recognize
the need for such cooperation in order to expand each other's
global reach and to provide additional benefits to EAA members -
and to open up more market opportunities in Europe and the North
America," Gruenwald said.
"We're proud to step into this long term cooperation with one of
the largest aviation organizations in the world. We're convinced
that this will lead to more aviation enthusiasm and additional
value for our common customers on both sides of the pond,"
Grunewald added.
Tom Poberezny, president of the EAA, said, "Flying remains a big
dream. We have to give people, especially young people, a sense of
enthusiasm for flying and make flying as easily accessible as
possible. In this respect, the AERO in Friedrichshafen is an ideal
platform for general aviation in Europe."
Obviously pleased with the show's results, exhibitor Clemens
Bollinger of Daedalus Communications said, "Everyone will
definitely remember AERO 2009: There were highly uncertain
expectations beforehand and practically everyone experienced
enormous satisfaction and relief afterwards. If this AERO is
anything to judge by, the end of the crisis is just around the
corner…"