The 30th AERO Friedrichshafen will not only be remembered as an anniversary edition, but also as a trade fair with a particularly large number of innovations and premieres. With 31,500 visitors from 81 nations, the numbers were significantly higher than the previous year’s edition and the proportion of pilots among visitors increased once again. The AERO Drones, the AERO Gliding Expo and the AERO Career Days proved their worth.
The 30th edition of AERO Friedrichshafen, the leading global trade fair for General Aviation, Air Sports and Business Aviation, has come to a successful close. “We already had high expectations for the anniversary AERO, but the trade fair far exceeded our expectations this year despite the far from ideal weather conditions,” says Stefan Reisinger, Managing Director of trade fair organizer fairnamic GmbH.
Tobias Bretzel, Show Director AERO, adds: “Over 680 exhibitors from 38 countries and the high number of visitors from all over the world underline the international significance of AERO. The many European and world premieres show that the exhibitors meet a very knowledgeable and international audience. Visitors were able to see over 270 aircraft in the exhibition halls and in the static display – from motor trikes to ultralights, touring and training aircraft and long-range business jets.“
In the latest survey, over 53 percent of AERO visitors stated that they had a pilot’s license.
Electric
Among the premieres at the show were the electrically powered eDA40 aircraft from Diamond Aircraft in Austria, the electric aircrafts RX-1E-A from Rhyen Aircraft Industry Co. Ltd. in China and the Integral E from French manufacturer Aura Aero, the Piper M700 FURY single-engine turboprop aircraft from Piper Aircraft in Vero Beach, Florida, and the Phoenix motor glider from JMB Aircraft in Belgium and the Czech Republic.
According to exhibitor Drew McEwen, CEO, AURA AERO: “It has been a very successful AERO Friedrichshafen for AURA AERO. We have signed several contracts for our Integral E electric aircraft and had great discussions with other interested parties for the Integral S and R. Here at the show we have even seen a lot of interest for our regional aircraft program ERA.”
In Zeppelin CAT Hall A1, the largest hall at the exhibition center, all major glider manufacturers were represented at the AERO Gliding Expo. The new concept for this segment with its own conference area was well received.
Helicopters
Helicopters have also become an integral part of AERO. Visitors were able to view 20 helicopters, including – for the first time ever at a trade fair – all current production models from Robinson Helicopter Company from Torrance, California.
Ole Gehrmann, managing director at Heli-Flight JLR says. “We have felt a bigger rush than in the past. We had good discussions and the AERO has a great audience. There was particular interest from the public in training. In close cooperation with the German Helicopter Association (DHV), we were able to exhibit all of the Robinson Helicopter Company’s helicopter models here. That was a real eye-catcher.”
“The presentation by Tim Pittelkow and Andreas Hennig at the HeliForum, who together produce the helicopter podcast “Abgehoben”, was great. It particularly appealed to young people who came to AERO especially for it.”
Leonardo Helicopters from Italy was represented at AERO for the first time and exhibited two helicopters: the AW109 GrandNew and the AW139. The extensive lecture program as part of the HeliForum of the DHV (Deutscher Hubschrauber Verband e.V. – German Helicopter Association) was well attended and offered up-to-date information on all aspects of rotorcraft.
The three-day AERO Drones has firmly established itself as a trade fair for unmanned aerial vehicles. The Björn Steiger Foundation and Mintmasters GmbH used the exhibition to present their newly developed rescue system “RescueBee” for the first time worldwide. It supports rescue teams in their search for people in distress, for example in the event of swimming accidents, and consists of one or more drones, a hangar and an emergency telephone.
Conference
The AERO Conferences offered the most extensive lecture and presentation program in the history of the trade fair. As part of the 30th anniversary edition, the AERO General Aviation (GA) Academy was introduced. It is characterized by high-quality training and further education offers in various areas of aviation. Every day, numerous lectures were offered on topics such as powered flight, soaring, engine handling, instrument flight, meteorology, aviation law and insurance, which met with great interest from the public.
Aviation is changing, and General Aviation with all its segments is an incubator for new technologies and innovations that will also influence the commercial aviation of the future. Visitors to AERO were able to get a good overview of the industry’s activities towards more sustainability. The AERO Sustainable Aviation Trail highlighted exhibitors who are particularly committed to sustainability by means of a special marking with green balloons that was clearly visible to visitors.
Qualified personnel are sought in all areas of aviation, be it for the cockpit, engineering, dispatch, air traffic control or the manufacturing of systems and entire aircraft. Aviation offers good career prospects and many different career opportunities. With the AERO Career Day (April 19 and 20), the show supports the industry in its search for new personnel, which places great value on greater diversity. At present, for example, only around six percent of all professional pilots worldwide are women. This is set to change, and AERO is an ideal starting point.
Margrit Waltz, the world’s most experienced ferry pilot, who alone has flown 960 aircraft across the North Atlantic, was at AERO 2024 in Friedrichshafen and motivated young people to pursue their dreams. She herself learned to fly gliders at the age of 15 and flew an airplane solo across the Atlantic for the first time at the age of 20. Today, she has over 26,000 flying hours in her logbook.
