Bangalore air show: Look, don’t touch
Financial Times: James Lamont
February 11, 2011
The Bangalore air show has quickly become one of the premier events of its kind in Asia. Aviation experts say it has climbed to the status of Singapore, and could rise further to become the regional equivalent of Farnborough in the UK and Paris.
The reasons are clear. India’s skies are now serious business.
Asia’s third largest economy is one of the world’s biggest buyers of arms. It has the world’s ninth largest civil aviation market, and fast-expanding domestic carriers are hungry for Boeing and Airbus aircraft. India also has a strong interest in developing
its own aerospace industry. It is among only six nations capable of satellite launches and its space programme is a thing of great national pride.
In recent days IndiGo, a domestic airline, ordered 180 A-320s for $15.6bn and the Indian Air Force inducted the C-130J Super Hercules.
The bi-annual air show is now in its eighth edition. Close to 700 exhibitors from 45 countries this year flocked to the Yelahanka air base between Bangalore’s congested city centre and its gleaming new international airport.
The air show, along with the market, still has some way to mature. In India, aeroplanes are to be admired from afar rather than experienced close up, which is a drag if you are trying to sell them.
Over the past few days, international exhibitors, whose costly aircraft from Swedish Gripen jet fighters to Embraer corporate jets line the apron, were frustrated by stubborn security personnel who barred their clients and visitors from stepping within thirty
yards of their products.
The wrong badge could cost a multi-million dollar sale. Corporate jet suppliers, like Bombardier, Gulfstream and Embraer, say that wealthy Indians are characterised by the individual, impulse buy. They differ from their Chinese counterparts, who typically take
longer to buy a jet. Across the Himalayas, business people tend towards a more collective, corporate decision.
Another frustration was the unexpectedly early arrival of the public. While the first, inaugural day was a cosy affair of top brass and sales people, the second of the five day event brought the spectators in numbers. Aerobatics drew crowds and stands were
quickly flooded with souvenir hunters rather than potential buyers.
The air show’s lack of commercial edge was not shared by the rest of Bangalore. The city’s hotels wait for months for the arrival en masse of the world’s aviation executives. A night at the ITC Gardenia, one of the city’s luxury hotels, was Rs35,000 and many
guests were locked in for a minimum four night stay. A modest dinner for two at the Taj West End was Rs11,000.
(The views expressed above are the personal views of the author)