The AERO is picking up speed in 2018 with a more expanded concept. The E-Flight-Expo will be a strong focus at the trade show for general aviation, which takes place at the exhibition grounds in Friedrichshafen from April 18 to 21, 2018. The Flight Simulator Area will celebrate its premiere at the show. Avionics Avenue, Engine Area, pilot training offerings and the AEROdrones/UAS Expo will once again provide a strong focus on technical subjects. Rotary wing aircraft are also rapidly gaining momentum. A broad, highly diverse selection of aircraft is at the center of the AERO: The range stretches from gliders to ultralights, helicopters and on to business jets. Unmanned drones represent an increasingly important topic, and along with the new field of vertical take off and landing (VTOL) are attracting more and more attention in aviation.
Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellman and project leader Roland Bosch are pleased that bookings for exhibition space at the AERO 2018 are already very strong as of late October 2017. “Globally active general aviation companies are optimistic. The E-Flight-Expo at the AERO 2018 continues to grow in reaction to the ever-increasing relevance of electromobility,” said Roland Bosch, assessing the situation in advance of the show.
The diversity at the AERO 2018 is impressive: The range of aircraft at the show stretches from unmanned civilian drones to ultralights, single- and multi-engine piston-driven aircraft, helicopters, gyrocopters and turboprops all the way up to multi-engine jets. Innovative propulsion systems, the most advanced avionics and aviation services and accessories will be additional focal points at the AERO 2018, as well as pilot training offers and information about further career opportunities in general aviation.
Several successful special exhibitions will be continued at the upcoming AERO next year. The E-Flight-Expo is well established and will again showcase alternative drive concepts in a hall all its own. Conglomerates like Siemens are specifically working on the development of their own electric flight concepts. The first electrically powered taxi drones are also being tested. This shows the increasing significance that electric flight will hold, and not only in general aviation.
In 2018, the new Flight Simulator Area will make its first appearance at the AERO. In this area, everything will be centered on the topic of flight simulation, both for pilot training and for everyone who wants to see what it feels like to fly an airplane or helicopter.
The helicopter field is also heavily represented at the AERO 2018. In a series of lectures, the Deutsche Hubschrauber Verband (DHV - German Helicopter Association) will explain the huge contributions made by the helicopter, an aviation work horse. Single and multi-engine helicopters with piston as well as turbine engines will be on display. The approval of a new ultralight category of helicopters in Germany has given the rotary wing aircraft segment additional momentum.
The great importance of business aviation will be reflected at the show again in 2018. Single and twin-engine piston-driven and turboprop aircraft, as well as single and multi-engine jets will be exhibited. Thanks to the March 2017 decision of the European aviation agency EASA to permit instrument flight by single-engine turboprops, the manufacturers of these aircraft can look forward to stronger demand.