$201bn Farnborough

Farnborough International Ltd (FIL) - organisers of the 2014 Farnborough International Airshow - have confirmed that the total sum of orders and commitments placed during last week's event reached $201bn USD, beating all previous records set for the show. The figure represents an extremely positive note for the global aerospace industry.

Across the course of the five days, orders and commitments for civil jet engines reached 1600 units with a total value of $34.5bn and over 1100 aircraft totalling $152bn. A further $14.5bn was also achieved in service contracts, reflecting the buoyancy of the aerospace industry internationally and in the UK.

Commenting on the figures, Shaun Ormrod, chief executive for FIL said, “We are extremely pleased by these numbers, there is already an order backlog and these additional orders will keep manufacturers in business and people employed for some years to come. Great news for UK business and the economy.”

Overall, the event has been viewed well with visitor numbers standing at 100,000 and strong government attendance with the Prime Minister, David Cameron opening the show and a tranche of cabinet officials and other government figures including Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, MP, Vince Cable, Philip Dunne, Michael Fallon and Philip Hammond.

The 'Meet the Buyer' event has proved incredibly successful this year with over 1200 meetings taking place with 30 delegate companies and UKTI Commercial Officers. The event has doubled in size compared to 2012 with over 300 companies participating in the event. The official delegations programme was also well attended with over 77 military delegations in attendance from over 59 countries including 10 delegations from the USA. The civil delegations programme has also seen strong participation with senior management from 12 organisations including HAL, Augusta Westland, Italy, Airbus and Sukhoi.

Amanda Stainer, Commercial Director for FIL commented, “We are delighted by the orders and commitments at the show, however, it’s the networking outside of those deals that are just as important demonstrated by the number of exhibitors that have already rebooked for 2016. The value of bookings for the 2016 show has increased by a massive 1000% compared to 2014. We are very pleased.”

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 24th July 2014 | Issue #282
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