Biggest Ever DUBAI AIRSHOW

Dubai Airshow 2021 was officially the biggest edition of the event since it first began in 1989, with an incredible UK£59 billion worth of deals announced.

The event welcomed more than 104,000 attendees and witnessed a 50% increase in trade visitors which included global senior executives from 148 countries.

The Airshow was bigger than the pre-pandemic 2019 edition in terms of visitor numbers and deals concluded. It was also a significant milestone for the defence and space sectors which saw a range of deals and agreements declared.

Some of the notable deals which took place during the event included Airbus who announced orders and commitments totalling 408 aircraft (269 firm orders and 139 commitments). The agreements covered the full range of commercial aircraft families, including a first commitment for the A350F freighter derivative. Airbus launched its latest global market forecast outlining progressively shifting demand from fleet growth to accelerated retirement of older, less fuel-efficient aircraft resulting in a need for some 39,000 new-build passenger and freighter aircraft. Of these, 15,250 aircraft (around 40%) are for replacements.

Boeing announced an order of 72 of its 737 Max from new Indian airline Akasa Air. It also announced orders for 11 of its 737-800BCF cargo planes from aircraft leasing company Icelease, 9 converted 767-300BCF freighters from DHL, and orders for 2 of its long-range 777F freighters from Emirates SkyCargo. Boeing received 4 orders of passenger planes and freighters from Air Tanzania and 3 of its widebody 777-300 passenger jets from UAE-based aviation services provider Sky One FZE.

The UAE’s Ministry of Defence signed UK£4.6 billion worth of contracts with European, American and Asian contractors and suppliers at the Airshow.

Dubai Airshow and the UAE Space Agency signed a MoU to collaborate to further position Dubai Airshow as a key platform for companies and investors in the space sector.

For the first time, MICE & TOURISM around the World attended the event with huge success and looks forward to developing future collaborations with the many contacts made during the show across the commercial aviation and space sectors.

CHINA TO SUBSIDIES SMALL AIRPORTS

Inner Mongolia International Airport

In order to continue the smooth operation of smaller regional airports, China will implement support subsidies for small and medium-sized civil airports with an annual passenger throughput of less than 2 million, as part of its public infrastructure policy. The support policies and subsidies will help ensure their safe, smooth and continuous operation, of the airports in remote and border regions with inconvenient transportation. Small and medium-sized airports are essential and help facilitate travel, sustain economic growth and provide emergency rescue. However, being smaller they often struggle to run profitably.

A UK-backed research group has unveiled a liquid hydrogen-powered airliner that theoretically would be capable of matching the performance of current midsize aircraft without producing carbon emissions.

The FlyZero concept sees a plane carrying 279 passenger’s non-stop from London to San Francisco at the same speed and comfort as today. Hydrogen propulsion is one of the most promising technologies for achieving carbonneutral commercial aviation, but it is expensive, and will take years to develop the planes and to build the infrastructure required like airport refuelling capacity.

The UK, which hosted the COP26 climate summit last month, is funding new technologies to help create aerospace jobs while meeting its climate targets.

Hydrogen aircraft expect to be operating from the mid-2030s offering better economics than conventional planes. By early next year, the FlyZero project will publish detailed concepts for regional, narrow-body and midsize aircraft, with technology roadmaps, market and economic reports and a sustainability assessment.

In the meantime, the aviation industry is focusing on ‘sustainable fuel’; a blend of kerosene that powers current aircraft, and battery powered flight, which is limited to smaller craft like air taxis because of battery weight restrictions.

The aviation industry is under pressure to rapidly cut missions even with new technologies being years away.