TheParis Air Show (French:Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget,Salon du Bourget) is atrade fair and air show held in odd years atParis–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, theGroupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (GIFAS), it is the largestair show and aerospace-industry exhibition event in the world, measured by number of exhibitors and size of exhibit space, followed by UK'sFarnborough Air Show,Dubai Air Show, andSingapore Airshow.[2]
First held in 1909,[3] the Paris Air Show was held every odd year from 1949 to 2019, when the 53rd Air Show attracted 2,453 exhibitors from 49 countries and occupied more than 125,000 square meters. Organizers canceled the 2021 show due to theCOVID pandemic.[4] It resumed in 2023.[5]
It is a largetrade fair, demonstrating military and civilian aircraft, and is attended by manymilitary forces and the majoraircraft manufacturers, often announcing major aircraft sales.It starts with four professional days and is then opened to the general public followed from Friday to Sunday. The format is similar to Farnborough and theILA Berlin Air Show, both staged in even years.
The firstSalon de la locomotion aérienne, 1909,Grand Palais, Paris.
The Paris Air Show traces its history to 1908, when a section of theParis Motor Show was dedicated to aircraft.[6]The following year, a dedicated air show was held at theGrand Palais[7] from 25 September to 17 October, during which 100,000 visitors turned out to see products and innovations from 380 exhibitors.[8] There were four further shows before theFirst World War.[9]The show restarted in 1919, and from 1924 it was held every two years before being interrupted again by theSecond World War. It restarted in 1946 and since 1949, has been held in every odd year.[citation needed]
The air show continued to be held at the Grand Palais, and from 1949 flying demonstrations were staged at ParisOrly Airport.[10] In 1953, the show was relocated from the Grand Palais to Le Bourget.[11] The show was drawing international notice in the 1960s.[12] Since the 1970s, the show has emerged as the main international reference of the aeronautical sector.[13]
The 1967 air show was opened by French PresidentCharles de Gaulle, who toured the exhibits and shook hands with two Sovietcosmonauts and two Americanastronauts.[12]Prominently displayed by theSoviet Union was a three-stageVostok rocket, such as the one that had carriedYuri Gagarin into space on April 12, 1961. The "extraordinarily powerful" Vostok was downplayed by American missile experts as "rather old and unsophisticated."[14] The American exhibit, the largest at the fair, featured theF-111 swing-wing fighter bomber,[14] a replica ofCharles Lindbergh'sSpirit of St. Louis.[15] and theLing-Temco-Vought XC-142A, a cargo plane capable of a vertical takeoff and landing.[16]A full-size model of the supersonicConcorde was displayed by the French and British,[14] auguring its successful first flight on March 2, 1969.[17]
"The largest plane in the world," theBoeing 747 jet airliner, arrived on June 3, after flying non-stop fromSeattle, Washington,[18] and theApollo 8 command module, charred by its re-entry, was there flanked by theApollo 9 astronauts, but the most-viewed exhibit was the supersonicConcorde, which made its first flight over Paris as the show opened.[19]
One hundred and eighty-two aircraft were scheduled for appearance.[27] Despite restrictions that followed theTU-144 crash in 1973, a day of flying pleased viewers. In particular, the AmericanYF-16 and the FrenchMirage F-1E competed in turn before a critical audience.[28] Days later, Belgium became the fourth European nation to choose the YF-16 over the F-1E.[29]
Two airliners, theAirbus A310 and theBoeing 767, are competing for the international market, but neither will carry passengers before 1982.[35] TheWestland WG30 transport helicopter shows promise.[36] "TheMirage 4000 remains a question mark"[37] despite being "surely the main highlight this year at Le Bourget."[38]
Newly introduced, in the rain, were the SovietMil Mi-34 Helicopter,[53] the Israeli Super Phantom,[54] and the Harrier GR.5.[55]Airbus announced firm orders for both theA330 andA340 airliners.[56] Exhibiting at the show for the first time, the Chinese displayed, among others, theA-5C Attacker (Fantan) and FT-7.[57]Richard Rutan andJeana Yeager, who flew aVoyager non-stop around the world without refueling, were present, but their aircraft was not.[58]
The "38th Paris International Air and Space Show" or "1989 Paris Air Show", featured a variety of aerospace technology fromNATO andWarsaw Pact nations.[59]AMikoyan MiG-29 crashed during a demonstration flight with no loss of life. The then-Soviet space shuttleBuran and its carrier,Antonov An-225 Mriya, was displayed at this show.[59]ASukhoi Su-27 made debut to western world, as well first publicly seen "Cobra" maneuver.[60]
The show attracted 1,611 exhibitors from 39 countries and nearly 300,000 visitors attended the show.[67]Dassault featured the debut of theFalcon 2000,[68] andAirbus will manufacture the 130-seatA319.[69]
The 1999 show continued a trend away from displays of new aircraft toward announcements of new contracts.[75] Although new entries such as theFairchild 30-seat 328JET[76] and theBoeing 100-seat 717-200[77] attracted interest, airlines ordered as many as 103Embraer ERJ-135s and 145s in addition to a 4.9 billion-dollar order forERJ-170s and ERJ-190-200s.[78] In February, the RussianIl-103 received US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval, a breakthrough in certifying Russian aircraft for the American market.[79] Subsequent certification for theIlyushin Il-96T wide-bodied jet was displayed at the show.[80]
The 48th International Paris Air Show took place in 2009 and marked a hundred years of technological innovation in aeronautics and space conquest. The event was held from 15 to 21 June, at Le Bourget. A memorial service was held for the victims ofAir France Flight 447.[110]
The 2011 show was the 49th presentation, and hosted over 2,100 international exhibitors in 28 international pavilions. A total of 150 aircraft were on display, including the solar-electric aircraftSolar Impulse.[111]
A demo A380 was damaged the day before the exhibition opened and needed a replacement;[112][113] while the newAirbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft had an engine failure, but could still perform some demonstration flights.[113]
The 2015 show, held from June 15 to June 21, 2015, saw the newDassault Falcon 8X,Airbus A350 XWB andBombardier CS300 and received 351,584 visitors, 2,303 exhibitors over 122,500square metres of exhibition space, 4,359 journalists from 72 countries and 130 billion euros in purchases and "cemented its position as the world's largest event dedicated to the aerospace industry".[115]During the show, Airbus Helicopters announced a successor to theSuper Puma, called theAirbus Helicopters X6.[116]
The 52nd Air Show was held from 19 to 25 June 2017, with 2,381 exhibitors from 48 countries, showing 140 aircraft including for the first time theAirbus A321neo,Airbus A350-1000,Boeing 787-10,Boeing 737 MAX 9,Kawasaki P-1,Mitsubishi MRJ90 andLockheed Martin F-35.Inaugurated by French PresidentEmmanuel Macron, it was visited by 290 official delegations from 98 countries and 7 international organizations, French Prime MinisterÉdouard Philippe, 3,450 journalists, 142,000 trade visitors and 180,000 general public visitors.Announcements for 934 commercial aircraft orders and purchasing commitments were worth a catalogue value of US$115 billion.[1]
There were 1,226 order and commitments : 352 firm orders, 699 letters of intent or memorandums of understanding, 40 options and 135 options letters of intent; plus 229 conversions of existing orders, mainly for the Boeing737-10 MAX variant launched at the show.There were mainlynarrowbodies with 1,021 orders or commitments against 76widebodies, 48regional jets and 81turboprop airliners.With 766, mainly preliminary deals,Boeing ledAirbus with 331, whileBombardier Aerospace had 64,Embraer 48 andATR Aircraft 17.Nearly half of those order and commitments was fromaircraft lessors with 513, and where the operator was known, 43% came from Asia-Pacific, 27% from the middle east, 10% from Europe as from South America, 7% from Africa and 3% from North America.[117]
The 53rd Air Show was held from 17 to 23 June 2019 with 2,453 exhibitors from 49 countries over 125,000 m2 (1,350,000 sq ft) of exhibition space for 140 aircraft shown including the recently certifiedAirbus A330neo andBoeing KC-46,Bombardier Global 7500,Embraer Praetor 600 and soon to be certifiedCessna Citation Latitude; it saw 316,470 unique visitors (for more than 500,000 entries): 139,840 professional from 185 countries and 176,630 from the general Public plus 2,700 journalists from 87 countries and announcements for $140 billion worth of orders.[118]The air show ended with 866 aircraft commitments totalling $60.9 billion (130 firm orders, 562 LoI/MoU, 119 options and 55 options on LoIs): 388 forAirbus including 243 newly launchedA321XLRs and 85A220s, 232 forBoeing including 200737 MAXes for IAG, 145 forATR and 78 forEmbraer; 558 narrowbodies, 62 widebodies, 93 regional jets and 153 turboprops.[119]
The air show returns for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic on 19-25 of June 2023. The first four days are open only to aviation industry followed by three days that include the general public admission.[121]
AConvair B-58 Hustler crashed while doing low-altitudeaerobatics. The aircraft reportedly flew into a cloud bank, where visual reference was lost, and crashed, killing 3 on board.[122]
Another Convair B-58 crashed while on final approach during an overweight landing. The aircraft touched down short of the runway, killing United States Air Force Lt. Colonel Charles D. Tubbs. Two other crewmen were injured.[123]
At the Paris Air Show on June 3, 1973, the secondTupolev Tu-144 production aircraft (registration SSSR-77102) crashed during its display. It stalled while attempting a rapid climb. Trying to pull out of the subsequent dive, the aircraft broke up and crashed, destroying 15 houses and killing all six on board and eight on the ground; a further sixty people received serious injuries.
The cause of this accident remains controversial. Theories include: the Tu-144 climbed to avoid a French Miragechase plane whose pilot was attempting to photograph it; that changes had been made by the ground engineering team to the auto-stabilisation circuits to allow the Tu-144 to outperform theConcorde in the display circuit; and that the crew were attempting a manoeuvre and to outshine the Concorde.
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