Dubai Airshow Remains World's Number Three Aviation Event
The Dubai Airshow expects to host 1,300 exhibitors and 87,000 visitors.
UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Dubai Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (center) and Michele van Akelijen, managing director of Tarsus Middle East, at the opening of Dubai Airshow 2017. (Photo: Tarsus)

The Dubai Airshow remains the world’s number-three aviation event, after Paris and Farnborough and ahead of Singapore, organizers claimed, as the Middle East’s premier air extravaganza prepares to get underway on Sunday, November 17. “We’re playing host to 1,300 exhibitors at the Dubai Airshow, and of course welcoming something like 87,000 visitors,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.


Orders are the hard currency by which the world’s four main airshows are judged, and Dubai has seen a total of just under $640 billion in cumulative aircraft deals since 1999, according to show organizers. Banner Dubai Airshow years included 2017, when total orders were just shy of $114 billion, 2013, when the figure reached $206 billion, and 2007, when more than $155 billion of deals took place.


In 2017, Emirates ordered 40 Boeing 787s worth $15.1 billion, and Flydubai signed for 225 Boeing 737 Maxes valued at $27 billion, while in 2013, Emirates made its largest aircraft order ever, for 150 Boeing 777X and 50 Airbus A380 aircraft, together worth $99 billion. Flydubai committed that year to 111 Boeing 737s—including 100 Boeing 737 Max-8s—worth $11.4 billion at list prices.


Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, driving force behind the UAE’s aviation development, will lead a Royal Tour of show sights on Day One. “We work with His Highness's protocol team and they usually request where they want to stop, and then we add in where we know there's something new that hasn't been there before: new exhibitors, new products, new aircraft,” Michele van Akelijen, managing director of show organizers Tarsus F&E Middle East, told AIN.


In 2017, the Dubai Airshow hosted 279 delegations from 76 countries. “We know that a lot more than that have been invited for this year, but confirmations won't come until much closer to the show,” she said. “[The total figure] is going to go up [10 percent or 15 percent].” This year, emphasizing the importance of military aircraft, Sheikh Mohammed himself is understood to have issued personal invitations to 84 ministers of defense from around the world.


Four conferences are planned during the event, Cargo Connect, Global Air Traffic Management, as well as two at the show’s Space Pavilion: Tech Talks and Women in Aviation. The Air Chiefs’ conference, for defense top brass, will take place offsite on the eve of the show on November 16. “We split [the conferences] out over two days, but only half days, morning sessions, so that everybody can still enjoy the flying display and have the meetings and networking that they need to do,” she said.


Apollo 15 astronaut Col. Al Worden will be giving a presentation at Space Tech Talks.


The five-day spectacle will also see "up to 165" aircraft on static display, afternoon displays from the UAE’s aerial acrobatics team, Fursan Al Emarat (Knights of the Emirates), and several other civilian and military aircraft. “The flying display is the perfect opportunity for civil and military aircraft manufacturers to demonstrate their skills and capabilities to industry leaders and potential customers,” she said.        


Dubai Airshow takes place at the Aviation Exhibition Center, Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), on November 17-21.