Treading on thin ice at Paris air show

Paris: A cruise down the Seine is very pleasant on a bright, sunny Paris afternoon, but what is different this Sunday is that the cruises are mostly booked by the defence and aerospace majors who are treading on thin ice in terms of industry prospects as they ready themselves for the world's bellwether air show that begins at Le Bourget on Monday.
By the side of the Seine, Mercs, BMWs and Volkswagens drop top honchos of civil, military and transport aircraft majors and missile and radar makers of the world, and champagne glasses clink on board the cruise liners, but no one is pretending that all is well with their industry. And that, despite the industry betting on the emergence of India and China as big buyers in the military and commercial aircraft sectors, riding on their globally envious GDP growth trajectories.
As always, there is a buzz about what's the latest to expect at the air show, and this time it includes discussions on helicopters with wings, the copter that the US used to end the Bin Laden chapter, and what the Chinese are up to in civil and military aircraft, but the under-lying theme is essentially whether or not the air show will point to an uptick for the aerospace and defence sector.
It is customary for aerospace majors to be tight-lipped about their latest wares even as they seek to display some of their capabilities at the biggest bi-annual B2B event of the industry. In the commercial aircraft sector, the industry expects positive news with air travel becoming more accessible and affordable for large segments of people in Asia, led by India and China, and large orders already coming through for both Boeing and Airbus.
20/06/11 Joe A Scaria/Economic Times

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Categories: Airshow Paris 2011, Foreign Jun 2011