Friedrichshafen – Blue skies and a northeast wind provide perfect flying conditions for pilots and co-pilots arriving by air at the trade fair. A hive of activity at Friedrichshafen Airport – and the international aviation show reports a perfect landing. With 30,800 industry visitors (exceeding the 29,700 at the directly comparable AERO 2014), AERO 2016 was a great success for both exhibitors and spectators, coming to a close on Saturday after four full days. A total of 606 companies from around the world took part. General aviation was well represented with single-engined and multi-engined airplanes, helicopters, gyrocopters, turboprops and multi-jet aircraft. The full range of flight topics was rounded off by drones, new aircraft engines and avionics, aviation-oriented accessories and services, as well as flight school course offerings. Klaus Wellmann (CEO of Messe Friedrichshafen, the host venue) and Roland Bosch (AERO Show Director) were very pleased with the four-day trade fair, calling it “A custom-tailored industry gathering for everyone who not only lives the dream of flight with great passion, but also does great business in selling aircraft, avionics and accessories.”
In the run-up to this international aviation trade fair, the industry of general aviation was already in a good position, generating a positive mood among aviation companies. “Our customers came to Friedrichshafen with high expectations, which were actually exceeded at AERO,” said Roland Bosch, happily summarizing the trade fair’s positive results. Excellent business was reported in the corporate aircraft area, as well as among manufacturers and dealers of ultralights and helicopters.
Electric motors are on the ascent, giving fresh impetus to general aviation. This was the happy news reported by exhibitors specializing in this alternative propulsion for aviation, as they scored major points with the industry audience in Friedrichshafen.
The AERO team also provided new inspiration to the emerging aviator who dreams of flight and strives towards a pilot’s license. “At AERO, we need to show the view from the cockpit and showcase the fascination of flight,” says Roland Bosch. In addition to providing experienced pilots with top-notch specialist offerings, the goal is also to address beginners as well.
Exhibitor Feedback
Alexandra Knorr, Managing Director at Jet Lounge: “Although the Eclipse 500 is being presented at AERO for the third time, this is the first time that Jet Lounge is the distribution partner for Europe. The great response to this aircraft has exceeded our expectations, and we’re satisfied so far.” Dr. Nicolas von Mende, CEO of Atlas Air Service AG: “For us, getting high-end customer contacts and serious inquiries about our aircraft are the main reasons to attend AERO in Friedrichshafen with our large fleet of corporate jets.” Dr. Michael Erb, Manager of AOPA Germany (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association): “AOPA Germany is once again very pleased with how everything went at the AERO trade fair; AERO is still the most important event of the year for us, unquestionably.” Dr. Frank Liemandt, Spokesperson at the DHV German Helicopter Association: “From our viewpoint, it was another great trade fair – for us, it’s just the right mixture of networking, general public appeal and media exposure.”
Trevor Pegrum, Sales & Marketing Manager at Garmin: “We’re very satisfied with AERO 2016, and saw great crowds at our stand. The interest in our products was extremely high.” Anja Ernst, Manager of edm aerotec GmbH: “We’re very pleased because our new ultralight helicopter attracted great international interest at this year’s AERO. At our stand, we recorded concrete inquiries from interested parties from around the world.” Peter Funk, Manager of Bücker & Funk GmbH: “Our results at the aviation trade fair were excellent. The interest in our new aircraft was very strong, so we can expect some good business. We have concrete inquiries from Spain and Greece, and are sure we’ll also be able to sell our aircraft. The frequency of visitors at our stand was gratifyingly high. This pleased us greatly.” Dr. Frank Anton, Project Head of eAircraft at Siemens AG: “The ‘e-flight expo’ at AERO is of great importance for us, because we can show what’s already possible in electric flight today along with the prospects for the future, letting everyone see the great potential for all pilots.” Daniel Kunz, Sales Director at HondaJet: “The HondaJet was for the first time on display at AERO and it was a huge success for HondaJet Central Europe. We had a lot of high-quality visitors.”
The next AERO in 2017
The next AERO will take place April 5–8, 2017, on the exhibition grounds of Messe Friedrichshafen. Further information at: www.aero-expo.com.
