Dubai Air Show
In less than a week, the eleventh Dubai Air Show gets underway.
One thing is for certain - that we will not see the multi-billion dollar deals that captivated the show the last time around, nor will we see deals on the scale that Etihad Airways placed at the Farnborough Air Show last summer either. If anything, the lacklustre mood of this summers Paris Air Show will likely be the theme for Dubai this year.
Yield attrition, oil price instability, financial difficulties, airplane order deferrals, cancellations and everything in between has dominated headlines this year and will be in the mix for a long while yet as airlines struggle for business and battle to stay alive.
Of course, all eyes will be on the incumbent carrier in Dubai, Emirates.
With rumours abound that it may firm up a deal for Airbus A330s and more Airbus A350s, no air show in this city would be complete without Emirates making a splash of some sort.
Image owned/copyright of FleetBuzz Editorial.com
With the focus on the Middle East region, military hardware too will be plying its trade. The C-17 Globemaster has a dark shadow hanging over its future prospects while Boeing aims to secure further international orders to continue its production. The Airbus A400M, still reeling from development pains and costly delays, suffered its first order cancellation from the South African Government will also be looking to show off its progress as EADS aims for its first flight by year end.
In the region, the competition between the swathe of low cost carriers will almost certainly be one the biggest, if not the biggest talking point - particularly as the Middle East populace and those within the GCC move away from the traditional big three Arab carriers and reap the low fare rewards of at least a dozen or more key players ranging from Air Arabia, Jazeera Airways, FlyDubai and others.
Strategic direction, not orders will be the main theme at the show.
Traffic growth for both passenger and freight in the Middle East is still ahead of any other geographic region, the importance of yield and revenues becomes an intrinsic indicator as to whether the regional growth can even serve as a catalyst to a broader market recovery beyond the GCC borders.
If nothing else, the Dubai Air Show stamps its authority as a leading, influential and important event - one that no longer be seen as playing second-fiddle to anyone else.
The region is simply too important to ignore.
26 comments November 9th, 2009
