NBAA President and CEO Ed Bohlen and EBAA Secretary General Atar Hussein Khan spoke during a webinar on Tuesday, May 10, about the upcoming joint conference and exhibition in Geneva, encouraged that industry representatives will be able to come together again at the landmark European Business Aviation Salon.
“It will be an exciting time in Geneva. Our industry is stronger than ever. And our future has never looked brighter. This is our opportunity to welcome business aviation to one of the most spectacular places in the world, Bohlen said. “We missed being with you, but we didn’t go back to where we were. We have gone forward, and that future will be demonstrated.”
As a confirmation of this, the exhibition site will once again house an innovation pavilion, but the number of exhibitors has increased and some of them are showing off their aircraft for the first time, Bohlen noted. Exhibitors include well-known names in the electrical and eVTOL sector such as EHang, Eviation, Lilium, Pipistrel and VoltAero, which will have exhibits indoors and outdoors.
About 50 aircraft will be on display at the static site, including the Gulfstream G700 and Dassault Falcon 6X, among others.
The showrooms have been "reimagined" to house two demonstration areas, which Hussein Khan said will feature "very interesting" innovations and other announcements.
In addition, keynote speakers, including international tennis star Martina Navratilova, record-breaking pilot Zara Rutherford and Syrian refugee pilot Maya Ghazal, will share their stories on the exhibition ground in the Innovation Zone rather than in a separate hall as in previous years.
These features have emerged as the number of exhibitors will be around 250, down significantly from nearly 500 in 2019 and 418 in 2018. However, Maureen Cameron, director of exhibition sales, services and operations, said some exhibitors were unable to participate in the show due to certain global situations, such as a Russian special operation in Ukraine. However, she added: We are very pleased to continue to receive applications for the exhibition almost every day. So those numbers are going to go up and overall the show looks very strong towards its comeback.
