Aero India 2019: PM Modi, Sunita Williams to attend India’s premier airshow

December 8, 2018

Briefing media persons on the Aero India 2019, a senior defence officer said that for the first time civil aviation exhibition will be subsumed into the upcoming edition of Aero India -2019.

With tag line of Aero India 2019 “runway for a billion opportunities, ” and the logo inspired by indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, is expected to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is planning to kickstart the four day show starting Feb 20, 2019.

Briefing media persons on the Aero India 2019, a senior defence officer said that for the first time civil aviation exhibition will be subsumed into the upcoming edition of Aero India -2019. While Aero India has been primarily military aircraft, this was often followed by a civil aviation exhibition held in Hyderabad.

Sharing the highlights of the event next at a briefing, the official said that “The 12th edition of Aero India at Bengaluru will have theme based activities like : Day 2 there will be a drone competition for start-ups and Day 4 will be women’s day. Indian origin US astronaut Sunita Williams is scheduled to attend the show on Day 4. Other women achievers will also be present. There will be a vintage rally too on one of the days. ”

Several firsts are planned in the 12th edition of the show which includes a round table of global Chief Executive Officers (CEO), a student’s event, academic seminars and photography contests. The CEOs roundtable is scheduled on the inaugural day and in which about 15-20 CEOs from global aerospace majors are expected to participate.

Youth, especially the students are being encouraged to participate and present projects related to the defence sector and is being promoted by the Ministry of Defence and a joint secretary is overseeing the efforts, the official added.

Also, two international level academic seminars based on the theme are planned in which top academicians and subject matter experts will present their papers. There will be two photography competitions, one before and one during the event — one for professional and one for the general public.

Some webinars are also in the offing — one on Regional Transport Aircraft and another on growth of airborne surveillance systems — for which registration can be done on the event website.

In terms of participation, so far 158 Indian companies and 106 foreign companies have registered. Companies from the US , France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Japan, Switzerland, Ukraine, Singapore, Sweden, Spain, South Africa, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia are among those which are expected to participate.

Courtesy: FE