Farnborough to help China stage new air show

COMAC's C919 model is on display at the Farnborough Air Show, one of the major exhibitions for the world aviation industry, in Britain, July 11, 2016. The show, which runs from July 11 to July 17, features the biggest Chinese participatin ever. The C919 is China's first-ever locally designed and built short and medium-haul jet. [Photo by Wang Mingjie/China Daily]

Organizers of the UK's biggest military and civil aviation event signed an agreement with representatives from Chengdu to launch a new airshow in China in late 2019.

The Sichuan International Airshow will bring together 300 to 400 exhibitors from within the civil and commercial aerospace industry and help demonstrate how companies can become involved in the Chinese market. Farnborough International, organizers of Britain's largest biennial air show, will supply consultancy services along with the EU Project Innovation Centre (EUPIC).

"The opportunity to host the Sichuan International Airshow in such a prime location in the heart Chengdu will make the event even more attractive for international participants," Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) Commercial Director Amanda Stainer said from the One Belt One Sky conference at the FIA 2016, running this month from July 11-17.

Plans for a biennial air show in Sichuan were first announced at the International Paris Airshow last year and the inaugural event was originally scheduled for 2017. However, organizers now aim to bring the event in line with the completion of a new international airport in Chengdu in 2019. The air show will take place at the two-terminal six-runway Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, which is scheduled to begin operations the following year.

Farnborough International signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday with the EUPIC and the Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone on Monday, detailing the event will showcase COMAC, AVIC and Sichuan Airlines, Haite group, Sigma Components and other state representatives' supply chains.

"Chengdu is already an established aerospace hub," Fu Yonglin, deputy mayor of Chengdu, said. "The Hi-Tech Zone and the Sichuan International Airshow will help put Chengdu as China's aerospace capital. The Farnborough International Airshow has a reputation as a world class trade event and we are looking to working with the organizers to hosting our first show in 2019."

The airshow will take place over five days in September — organizers aim to welcome 30,000 visitors to three trade days and 100,000 visitors over two days open to the public. Between 60 and 70 aircraft will take part in flying displays while 60 will be on static display.

The airshow will offer an opportunity for industry players looking to enter or expand in the growing Chinese market.

China is currently the world's second largest aviation market and will become the largest within the next decade, according to a report released by aircraft manufacturing giant Airbus on Monday. Boeing predicts that Chinese airlines will need nearly 6,000 new aircraft over the next 20 years, and plans are in place for the addition of 56 new airports countrywide.

At a breakfast roundtable at the FIA 2016 on Tuesday, Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Warren East said the UK-based jet engine manufacturer will see three quarters of its business come from outside the European Union over the next ten years and that: "Most growth over the next decade is from Asia and the Middle East."

Boeing forecasts that just under 40 percent of all new aircraft made over the next two decades will be sent to Asia, and Airbus China CEO Chen Juming said half of Airbus's current orders are from Asia, with half of Asia's orders coming from China. Chen said the economic center of the aviation industry has been "shifting eastward" over the last 20 years