Contracts Worth $3 Billion Signed

You've heard of the Paris Air Show and the Farnborough event. Now, get used to Airshow China, held every other year in Zhuhai.

China has just concluded its sixth exposition, where 18 major aircraft manufacturers and about 550 other companies from around the world have shown off their wares for one of the fastest growing aviation markets anywhere. Zhuahai is a southern Chinese boomtown near Hong Kong and offered plenty of airspace for planes to demonstrate their talents.

The China Daily reports China is expected to be the fastest-growing market for commercial aircraft over the next two decades.

Boeing said last week that it expects carriers to purchase 2,900 new planes worth $280 billion over that period, and it expects many of those aircraft wil be its new 787 Dreamliner.

Airbus added five A321s to its China order to complement the 170 A320s it has already agreed to build for various Chinese airlines. It also agreed to build a production facility in China and will allow that country to have a say in the design of the next Airbus planes. In the future, five percent of Airbus models will be designed by Chinese engineers, the planemaker said.

But the hardest-working salesmen at the event had to be the Russians. While Boeing and Airbus only had a few scale models to display, Russia showed up with an entire squadron of fighters, missiles, airliners, and cargo aircraft, along with associated avionics selections.

They even put on an aerial display of the Russian Air Force "Knights" aerobatic team, flying five Sukhoi 27s.

No western countries had any military hardware for display, apparently due to the US and European weapons embargoes imposed after the Tianemen Square massacres in 1989.

The exhibition also showcased dozens of companies and products from China's state-run aerospace industry, most notably the home-grown ARJ-21 regional jet.

China View reports that over $3 billion dollars worth of contracts and letters-of-intent were signed at the show.

Book your tickets now for the seventh Airshow China which will start November 4, 2008 in Zhuhai.

FMI: www.airshow.com.cn/en/