Just as the reduced size of this week’s NBAA show is a sign of the harsh economic times in which the business of business aviation is being conducted, next year’s European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva seems likely to be on a diminished scale as Europe’s economies deal with the downturn.
Recession had already taken hold in much of Europe around the time of this year’s EBACE, held in May. But exhibitor numbers remained high, in part because many companies had made commitments to be at the show long before the full extent of the downturn had become apparent on that side of the Atlantic.
In fact, this year turned out to be the third biggest EBACE in the show’s short history (the 2010 event marks its 10th anniversary), with 411 exhibitors occupying approximately 1,900 booth spaces. There were 10,917 visitors and they were able to view about 65 aircraft.
