The Farnborough International Airshow (July 9-15, 2012) is shaping up to be not just bigger than the 2010 event but also better, according to exhibitions and events director Amanda Stainer, “with exciting new features that will captivate [attendees’] imaginations.” Exhibit areas are already 95 percent sold out, she said. Contributing to the excitement surrounding this year’s airshow are preparations for the 2012 London Olympic Game (July 27 to August 12).

Yesterday at the Singapore Airshow, Yang Xiangang, vice general manager of the Zhuhai Airshow, signed an agreement to exhibit at the Farnborough Airshow with Shaun Ormrod, chief executive of Farnborough International.

A big change this year for Farnborough exhibitors is that they will be able to pack up their exhibits and depart on the last trade day, Friday July 13. This will save exhibitors time and money and also potential wear-and-tear from non-trade visitors on the public days. “We decided to trial it this time,” said Stainer, who confirmed to AIN that the public would be excluded from the exhibition halls over the weekend days (July 14-15). The move will allow exhibitors to focus on their trade visitors and business-to-business opportunities. The 13th is also “Futures Day,” where about 10,000 youth are invited to learn about aerospace and career opportunities.

For the trade visitor, a full conference program is available on July 10 and 11, and there are also two days of meet-your-buyer events for suppliers and customers to get together. The conference program has four tracks: defense, security, aerospace and civil aeronautics. Each sector has its own events planned, for example the air power zone will feature UK Ministry of Defence personnel explaining how to do business with the agency.