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Aviation executives from around the world are already making plans to attend and feature in the second Bahrain International Airshow ... in 2012.
The Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) and Farnborough International Limited (FIL) say the announcement of plans to stage the event again has been met with enthusiasm and support from throughout the industry.
The second Bahrain International Airshow will take place at the Sakhir Air Base from January 19-21, 2012, following the success of the launch event in January which saw around $1 billion in orders announced during the show.
"Bahrain hosted a groundbreaking new airshow, moving away from the traditional trade show format, introducing a unique and individual concept to participants," said Captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud, deputy chairman of the BIAS supreme organising committee and Undersecretary for Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs.
TAG Aeronautics, Gulfstream, Bahrain Airport Services, Bahrain Economic Development Board, Bexair, Bahrain Airport Company, Cessna, Gulf Air, Gulf Technics, MENA Aerospace and Lockheed Martin are amongst the first companies to have signed up for the 2012 event. Renewed sponsorship commitments from Gulf Air have also already been agreed.
Amanda Stainer, exhibitions and events director at FIL, said: "The newly-developed bespoke venue at Sakhir Air Base offers a fantastic tailor-made hospitality environment. The results from 2010 have proved beyond doubt that a clearly focused event orchestrated to attract the highest level of delegations and visitors is precisely what the industry wanted and we will continue to develop the concept to deliver a very high level trade event offering a genuinely exclusive opportunity."
The Middle East region has witnessed unprecedented growth within the commercial and private aviation sectors over the past decade and is the only region in the world where international traffic increased during 2009 by 11.2 per cent, with a forecast to continue to expand at a similar rate, well into 2020.
Taking advantage of the central geographical location, Middle Eastern carriers are also playing a major role in bridging the Far East with Europe and Africa, as well as between the Commonwealth of Independent States and Africa.
Governments across the region are supporting more open access for aviation and investing in aviation infrastructure. Over the next three decades, $48 billion is committed to airport projects alone.
