Expectations of a late-2013 surge in new airliner deals were handsomely surpassed at last month’s Dubai Airshow (November 17-21), with aircraft orders (including the engines that will power them) exceeding a record-breaking $200 billion mark, as of press time. But business aviation also put on a strong showing, accounting for roughly a third of the 150 or so aircraft occupying a packed static display at the biennial event’s new Dubai World Central (DWC) site. The impressive purpose-built show venue closely replicates the appearance of the long-standing site at Dubai International Airport. But the facilities are far more functional and the (for-now) under-utilization of DWC’s new Al Maktoum International Airport gives it plenty of scope to be a superb airshow venue. That said, windy conditions and some mild sandstorms blowing up from the surrounding desert did quell some of the aerial activity.
