Dubai Air Show: Aerospace industry meets for deals and displays
The eyes of the world’s aerospace and defence industries
will be on Dubai this weekend as one of the industry’s biggest air shows takes off.
While the larger Farnborough and Paris events
may attract more visitors and exhibitors, Dubai has in recent years been where most of the biggest deals have been done.
Like its European rivals, the Gulf emirate’s five-day show will be a battleground for commercial aircraft sales between Airbus, Boeing, and the second-tier manufacturers.
But Dubai
is also a key venue for arms deals. The sensitivity of defence contracts means many are negotiated below the radar. Given the scale of Middle East defence budgets few arms manufacturers can afford not to have a presence at Dubai.
All the major names will be among the 1,300 exhibitors showing up this week, including Britain’s BAE Systems,
France’s Dassault,
and the biggest defence firm of all,
America’s Lockheed Martin, will all be out in force.
BBC News