From November 20 to November 24, 2005, the world-famous 9th international aerospace exhibition "Dubai 2005" was held in Dubai. This year, 726 exhibitors from 46 countries took part in it, 15 national pavilions were built and more than 100 units of aviation equipment were demonstrated. This largest and most famous air show in the Middle East region rightfully takes the third place in the world after the air shows in Le Bourget and Farnbarough and is a worthy competitor to the MAKS air show in Zhukovsky near Moscow. This year, the 2005 Dubai exhibition space grew by 25% compared to 2003, and sales reached $ 21.3 billion, a record for the long history of the Dubai Air Show.
The number of visitors to Dubai 2005 exceeded 35 thousand people, which is 7 thousand more than in 2003 and 5 thousand more than the organizers expected. Since 1992, Fairs & Exhibitions, the organizer of the exhibition, has been very proud of its successes and has been particularly noted by the leadership of the Dubai Civil Aviation Department.
However, the success of any exhibition of this scale and level is evaluated, first of all, by its participants and visitors. Spectators and specialists in the aerospace industry had what to see and what to be surprised. The undisputed favorites among the "monsters" of civil aviation, however, as always, were Airbus and Boeing, which presented their latest products to the audience - luxurious passenger airliners A380 and Boeing 777. And if the "inside" of the A380 could be seen "in section" on mockup of the airliner, exhibited in the Airbus pavilion, and its flying qualities during demonstration flights, the luxurious Boeing 777 was exhibited on the airfield, and everyone could get acquainted with its device, having been inside. There were plenty of volunteers, so the line to "777" vividly reminded the lines that lined up for the V.I. mausoleum Lenin in his best times. In fact, it’s great that all visitors to the exhibition could look into the cabin of any aircraft displayed on the field and imagine how and where to go on this aircraft, and what would be the feeling from the point of view of comfort and safety.
Indeed, today it is the “aircraft manufacturers” who decide for us what to fly on to, but there may come times when we and you passengers will choose. And at these times you need to come fully armed. Fortunately, today there is plenty to choose from - cute Bombardier airplanes for 60, 70, 100 passengers, private Royal Jets, super-liners, helicopters ...
I must say that the participation of companies from Russia and the CIS countries was also very pleased. First of all, it was pleasant that such masters of the aviation industry as Sukhoi Design Bureau, in the framework of international cooperation and together with Thales, Liebherr Aerospace, Messier Dowty, Intertechnique, B / E Aerospace, Honeywell, Autronics, Ipeco, Perker, PowerJet, Hamilton Sundstrand, Goodrich are launching the production of a modern passenger aircraft, designed for short and medium range flights. The layout of the new aircraft, designed for 75-78 passengers, was presented at the company's booth. True, this year there were no Su-27 fighters so beloved by the audience of flights, but all the modifications of the military equipment of the famous design bureau were displayed in mock-ups.
In addition, the Irkut Corporation, which produces the famous Su-30MKI fighters, Yak-130 simulators and Be-200 amphibious fire extinguishing aircraft, announced the receipt of a large order from Airbus for the manufacture of components for A320 aircraft.
World famous MIG-29 fighters performed incredible aerobatics in the sky over Dubai. At the stand of the MIG company, the most modern design of the design bureau in the field of military aviation was exhibited. The largest Russian stand, according to tradition, was presented by Rosoboronexport, which on November 4, 2005 celebrated its fifth anniversary.
“We have orders for military equipment worth about $ 12 billion USD, which should be completed by 2007-2008. I can say with confidence that this figure is stable, since in the year we sign contracts worth $ 4-5 billion USD, "said Sergei Chemezov, general manager of Rosoboronexport. He also noted that the volume of deliveries of Russian equipment in 2005 remained at the level of 2004. Today, Rosoboronexport controls 90% of Russian arms exports and is one of the leaders in the global arms market.
In addition to manufacturers of passenger and military aircraft, Russia was represented by helicopter plants from Moscow (named after Mil), Kazan and Rostov-on-Don (Rostvertol). They successfully sell their helicopters in the Middle East, equipped with everything necessary for the international services of disaster medicine, fire fighting, police, amphibious helicopters, etc.
Traditionally, aircraft manufacturers from Ukraine take part in the Dubai air show. This year, Aviant Kiev Aviation Plant, the manufacturer of the famous AN, presented a novelty - the AN-148 passenger aircraft, designed for 80 passengers. “We consider the Dubai air show to be very business and promising for our company in terms of concluding deals,” commented the representative of the plant’s sales service. - We have long been successfully selling our aircraft in the Middle East. At the 2005 air show, we present modern modifications of famous models and new items. Our engineers provide technical support for the purchased equipment in countries such as Syria, Jordan, Egypt. We are very interested in working in this market. He is very promising. "
I would like to talk about everything that happened at Dubai 2005, but this is not possible in the framework of one short report. I believe that it is worth noting the incredible, simply dizzying successes of the UAE's national carrier, Emirates, in improving passenger and cargo transportation and taking them to a whole new level. The company, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, already today occupies the 3rd place in the ranking of the world's leading air carriers after British Airways and Lufthansa in terms of safety and service provided on board, owns an aircraft fleet of 80 ultra-modern aircraft, including A300, A320, A340, Boeing - 747, 777 and others, and has already announced the purchase of several Airbus A380. The Emirates name causes legitimate pride among the emirates and sincere respect for the part of passengers who at least once used its services.
To conclude on an optimistic note, I note that the latest trends in domestic aircraft manufacturing and international integration programs in the field of civil aviation allow us to hope that Russian carriers will soon have airliners that will be pleasant and safe to fly to different countries of the world. And the slogan from the Soviet past, “Fly Aeroflot’s planes” will not sound like an unhappy joke, but will become a new slogan for modern and reliable Russian airlines (their names will be only along with Aeroflot), which passengers can rightfully be proud of.
That's all. Meet me in Dubai in 2007. Let's talk ...
Elena Olkhovskaya
