ON THE SOAPBOX: Show time is changing

Alison Chambers, founder of Emerald Media and Board Director of the British Business General Aviation Association (BBGA) comments on the value of aviation events and where next for European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE).


Rotterdam or anywhere, Liverpool or Rome – trills the Beautiful South song.  Aviation industry events tend to be wedded to a city – Aircraft Interiors (Hamburg); World Travel Market (London); ITB (Berlin) and then the destination itself becomes the big talking point.  I am writing about EBACE – Europe’s premier business aviation event.  It just finished its 22nd edition in Geneva, for the first time ever without an aircraft display and its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) backers. (Only Leonardo brought a helicopter). The Middle East Business Aviation Association’s biennial gathering in November was bigger.  

Was it a success?  Well, yes, because the visitors and exhibitors made it. The networking was good, complemented by informative on-stage panel discussions.

I got to share thoughts on the changing world of PR with fellow agency professionals.  (In a nutshell, journalists still want press releases, regarded as most trustworthy. LinkedIn and other social media posts tend to get missed.  Plus, the PR/journalist relationship needs to be two-way, with advertising support – we need to keep our valued journalists in their jobs.  Thank you, Murdo Morrison, FlightGlobal, for giving us the platform. 

Visitors/exhibitors have for years complained that Geneva is too costly.  A security breach on the static two years ago, resulting in criminal damage to a few business aircraft, also dented its popularity among the OEMs. AEROFriedrichshafen, whose new Business Aviation Showcase Hub, attracted 30 business aircraft and 40 helicopters in April was a great success.  Yet, AEROFriedrichshafen is so much more than bizav.  “Overwhelming,” one business aviation journalist described it, because it covers everything from drones and gliders, right up to ultra-long range bizjets.  

The consensus is that EBACE is needed, a show conceived to further business aviation.  Is a static display essential?  If you are seriously in the market for a bizjet there is Steve Varsano’s showroom in Hyde Park, just across the street from The Royal Aeronautical Society.  He can show you 1,400 aircraft types and all their features, including fuel burn and pilot costs.  If you want a new-build the OEM or sales agent will visit you or invite you to the more exclusive events they are increasingly favouring at FBOs like Jersey and Olbia.  

There are hundreds of aviation events each year and even though we are five years on from virtual-only / hybrid shows, event organisers are still not coordinating diaries.

Even with the best intentions and an executive jet to make you less tired (it really does) you are inevitably going to miss something.  For example, the European Regions’ Airlines’ Annual General Assembly always falls either side of National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the world’s largest bizav gathering, or MRO Europe, or Routes.  I will likely wait till 2027 when ERA should certainly be held in London, marking London City Airport’s 40th anniversary [this Editor will endorse that].  What an occasion to bring the progression of regional aviation and bizav together? 

EBAA may indeed be wise to look at Routes as a future model.  Move the show around, especially as this is an industry suffering from a perception issue.  Engaging with different cities, local media, politicians, could be just the new direction it needs.  At each new location it would grow its supporters – a challenge the national associations like our own BBGA, would rise to.

Meanwhile, contenders for 2026 are Farnborough, Barcelona, Frankfurt or even Geneva one more time (appreciating this show is in transition following its separation from NBAA which previously ran it).  We will know on 30 June.  As for the date, do refer to the bulging 2026 calendar.  
 
Events are always valuable to identify/reinforce strategy.  Take Airport Coordination Ltd – which landed its 76th slot management role 1 April at Sydney Airport.  After successful participation in Perth for Routes Asia, it is allocating more resources through its Asia-Pacific Division, to serve a growing region.

The Corporate Jet Investor series is another beacon of success, an undisputed ‘go to’ for anyone stepping into business aviation. It launches in Malta in June.  A Saudi Arabia edition is coming, buoyed by the relaxation of regulations in the Kingdom with cabotage (domestic) rights for international bizav operators.

There has certainly been a seismic shift for events.  We saw it at the Farnborough Show last July with leading aerospace OEMs making early announcements at Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), complemented by corporate hospitality and eight-hour flying displays.  This year RIAT is upping its corporate hospitality offering.

I am looking forward to CARIBAVIA in St Barth in June; Air Charter Expo (ACE) at Biggin Hill; inter airport Munich in October for its special 25th edition.  For destination appeal and close collaboration with luxury hotels, the Irish Business General Aviation Association’s (IBGAA) annual conference in Kildare in November.  The next big air show is Paris. No Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) transportation easing journeys. You will have to wait for Los Angeles 2028 for that – and that is another, much more contentious story.

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READERS' COMMENT

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Simon Grigor, United Kingdom

Interesting thoughts, Alison. This year's Seoul ADEX event has two totally separate parts: a public 'airshow' bit in week one; then the following week the business part in a totally different location in the city.