This year’s NBAA annual convention was bigger and better than last year’s, not because there were more attendees and exhibitors at the recent Las Vegas show, but because there was a significantly higher number of attendees from outside the U.S. According to NBAA figures, international registration climbed by 23 percent over last year’s show, and nearly 4,000 people from 88 countries traveled to Las Vegas to participate in the annual bizav-fest.
The rapidly growing business aviation fleet in China, while still small by any standard, generated significant interest at the show. And while it’s normal to have interpreters at press conferences at shows outside the U.S., the presence of one at the Dassault Falcon press conference to announce a major order by Minsheng Financial Leasing underscored the importance that Chinese attendees and companies attach to the annual NBAA event. Minsheng had two big announcements at the NBAA show, the purchase of 13 Embraer Legacy 650s (part of which was announced as a memorandum of understanding for 20 aircraft in July) and a MoU for 10 Falcon 7Xs and 10 Falcon 2000S models, announced at the Dassault Falcon press event. A signing ceremony for the MoU was conducted in Chinese and English by Kong Linshan, chairman of the board of Minsheng, and Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Charles Edelstenne. A China operations panel session on the afternoon of the show’s first day overflowed with a standing-room-only crowd.
