“There has been an enormous amount of energy and enthusiasm here in Shanghai at ABACE, despite the change in weather from sunny skies on the opening day [yesterday] to rain today,” NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen told AIN as he summed up the show so far. According to NBAA and show co-organizer Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA), ABACE 2014 has already attracted a record-breaking 187 exhibitors and 38 static-display aircraft. And Bolen expects the number of attendees this year to top the 7,714 people who came through the doors during ABACE 2013.

He said that attendees are pleased with the “broad spectrum” of aircraft on display this year at ABACE, a mix that includes piston, turboprop and jet airplanes as well as helicopters. Meanwhile, “Exhibitors–all the way from the large aircraft manufacturers to the smaller companies–are constantly telling us they are happy about the quality and quantity of attendees at the show,” Bolen noted. “We are pleased that ABACE is meeting or exceeding expectations.”

The show’s location at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, where it will remain until at least 2021 under a deal announced on Monday, is also widely viewed by attendees and exhibitors as an Asian, not just Chinese, venue, said Bolen. “Shanghai is an Asian financial and business hub; it is truly an international city. It just seems like the right spot to us,” he concluded.