| Paris Air Show Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, Paris-Le Bourget |
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The first day of the 2007 Paris Air Show |
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| Host airport: | Paris – Le Bourget Airport |
| Location: | Le Bourget, Paris (since 1953) |
| Country: | France |
| Established: | 1909 |
| Type: | Commercial |
| Held | Odd years, June |
| Operated by: | Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales |
| Attendance: | 380 000 (2009) |
| Events | aerobatic displays static displays |
| Website: | paris-air-show.com |
The Paris Air Show (Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, Paris-Le Bourget) is the world's oldest and largest air show. Established in 1909, it is currently held every odd year at Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. There have been 49 shows in total, including the most recent in 2011.
The Paris Air Show is organised by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, the Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales (Gifas). It is a primarily commercial event, its main purpose being to demonstrate military and civilian aircraft to potential customers. It is widely considered the most prestigious aircraft exposition in the world; traditionally, major aircraft sales contracts are announced by manufacturers during the show. All major international manufacturers, as well as representatives of the military forces of several countries, attend the Paris Air Show.
In addition to industrial visitors, during the closing days of the salon, the show welcomes a large number of visitors from the general public, when admission is not limited to visitors with industry affiliations. Some other shows in the region include the Farnborough International Exhibition and Flying Display and the Internationale Luft- und Raumfahrtausstellung Berlin (ILA), although these happen on alternating years.
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The Paris Air Show traces its history back to the first decade of the 20th century. In 1908, a section of the Paris Automobile Show was dedicated to aircraft. The following year, a dedicated air show was held at the Grand Palais from 25 September to 17 October, during which 100,000 visitors turned out to see products and innovations from 380 exhibitors.[1] There were four further shows before the First World War.[2] The show re-started in 1919, and from 1924 it was held every two years before being interrupted again by the Second World War. It re-started again in 1946 and since 1949, has been held in every odd year.
The air show continued to be held at the Grand Palais, and from 1949 flying demonstrations were staged at Paris Orly Airport. In 1953, the show was relocated from the Grand Palais to Le Bourget. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the show emerged as a powerful international rival to the Farnborough Airshow. The 1971 show featured a full scale mock-up of an Airbus A300 while the new DC-10 and Lockheed Tristar were present at the 1973 edition. Among major accidents, there were two crashes of Convair B-58 Hustler bombers, in 1961 (during aerobatics) and 1965 (during landing).[3]
At the Paris Air Show on June 3, 1973, the second Tupolev Tu-144 production aircraft (registration 77102) crashed during a display. It stalled while attempting a rapid climb. Trying to pull out of the subsequent dive, the aircraft broke up crashed, destroying 15 houses and killing all six on board and eight on the ground and a further 60 received serious injuries.
The causes of this incident remain controversial. Theories include: the Tu-144 tried to avoid a French Mirage chase plane which was attempting to photograph it, that changes had been made by the ground engineering team to the auto-stabilisation circtuits to allow the Tu-144 to outperform Concorde in the display circuit, and that the crew were attempting a manoeuvre — to outshine Concorde — that the aircraft was not capable of.
The "38th Paris International Air and Space Show" or "1989 Paris Air Show", featured a variety of aerospace technology from NATO and Warsaw pact nations.[4] A MiG 29 crashed during a demonstration flight with no loss of life. The then Soviet space shuttle Buran and its carrier Antonov An-225 was displayed outside of Russia at this show.[4]
The 2005 show, held 13–19 June, was the 46th show, and witnessed the return of American companies in large numbers following the downscaling of their presence in 2003 in relation to the Iraq War. Another strain in relations in 2005 was the recently launched World Trade Organisation litigation, which involved action filed by the United States against the EU member States alleging WTO-inconsistent subsidies to Airbus.
The Airbus A380 opened the show with a flying display
In 2007 the 47th show took place. At this show the Airbus A330 MRTT tanker/transport, Antonov An-148 regional jet, Bell/Agusta BA609 tilt-rotor, Socata TBM 850 and the S4 Ehécatl unmanned aircraft were presented for the first time.
The 48th International Paris Air Show took place in 2009 and marked a hundred years of technological innovation in aeronautics and space conquest. The event was held from 15 to 21 June, at Le Bourget.
A memorial service was held at the air show for the victims of Air France Flight 447.[5]
The 2011 edition of the show is the 49th presentation, and hosts over 2,100 international exhibitors in 28 international pavilions and has 150 aircraft, including the solar airplane Solar Impulse.[6] The show is marked by the presence for the first time a Chinese manufacturer, COMAC - which according to industry analysts, should eventually become a competitor to Airbus - and by the arrival of three new Boeing aircraft passenger and cargo versions of the 747-8 and 787.
A demo A380 was damaged the day before the exhibition opened and needed a replacement.[7] · [8] while the new military transport aircraft A400M had an engine failure, but could still perform some demonstration flights.[8] Airbus took in a total of about 910 orders for $ 88 billion, including $ 60 billion for the A320neo ordered by GECAS U.S., while Boeing announced orders for 141 totaling $ 22 billion.[9] The show was attended by about 145,000 and 200,000 visitors in the days open to the public with 120,000 for the day of June 26, 2011.[10]
This table includes options and controls included.[11]
| Airplane | Sales |
|---|---|
| Airbus A320neo | 667 |
| Airbus A320 | 34 |
| Airbus A330 | 11 |
| Airbus A350 | 6 |
| Airbus A380 | 12 |
| Boeing 737 | 91 |
| Boeing 777 | 27 |
| Boeing 747-8 | 19 |
| Boeing 787 | 4 |
| Bombardier CS100 | 26 |
| Bombardier CS300 | 30 |
| Global 8000 | 12 |
| Global 7000 | 4 |
| Embraer E-jets | 39 |
| ATR 72 | 130 |
| Sukhoi | 24[12][13] |
Media related to 2007 Paris Air Show at Wikimedia Commons
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