2016 Event Review

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	Farnborough International 2016 July 11-17 UK
	Location: Farnborough, UK
	Admission: 48£ for public on the weekend July 16-17 and advanced 40£ Trade fair one day 45 £ and advanced 37 £
	Parking: Free
	Value: Excellent
	Rating out of 10: Trade show mostly



The biannual held Farnborough International Air Show (FIAS) proved to be a huge success for the organizer as well as for the exhibitors and their customers. Record sales and some premiers made this year's edition of FIAS 2016 worth a visit for all participants.
Prime Minister David Cameron opened the show on Monday 11th July. After his opening speech was the fly bye of the Red Arrows in formation with the Royal Navy F-35B Lightning II, in typical British weather conditions (fog and rain). The Prime Minister also used his appearance at the air show to announce a new strategic partnership between Boeing and the UK, as well as nearly £400m for new aerospace R&D projects. He said in his opening speech: "It's great to be back here, because this is the right place to talk about the future for the British economy. Why? Because in the new situation we face, we are going to need to play to our strengths. And the British aerospace industry is clearly one of those greatest strengths."
Another premier was by the newly named company "Leonardo", the former Finmeccanica Group. Leonardo is a global high-tech company and one of the key players in the Aerospace, Defence and Security sectors. Headquartered in Italy, the company employs more than 47,000 employees worldwide. Leonardo was one of the key exhibitor with the largest pavilion on the fairground. The new CEO Mauro Moretti chose the new name inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, a universally recognised symbol of creativity and innovation. CEO Mauro Moretti and Giovanni Soccodato, responsible for Strategy, Markets and Business Development, explained at the press conference the new structure of the company, and the strategic direction. At Leonardo's large static display area they exhibited their helicopters (various configurations including the AW189, AW159, AW149, AW 169 and AW101), a mock-up of the T-100 for the US, based on the advanced M-346 trainer, as well as unmanned aircraft such as the Falco EVO for fixed wing, and the SD-150 Hero, rotary wing, specialized for surveillance missions, and the C-27J twin-engine transport aircraft.

Diamond Aircraft of Austria, just two months after its maiden flight, introduced to the world their Dart-450 single turboprop at FIAS 2016, for the first time. The Dart 450 is an all carbon fibber tandem, 2 seat aerobatic and military trainer. The aircraft powered by an Ivchenko-Progress/Motor Sich AI-450S turboprop engine, is equipped with ejection seats, adaptive mission equipment and intelligent flight management system, a HOTAS system and a preconfigured fuselage with mounted retractable surveillance camera(s) and sensors according to the newest standards and payload requirements. The maximum endurance of +7/-4g airplane is 8 hours plus reserve.

Diamond Dart 450
The orders for the civil market were dominated by Airbus and Boeing. Airbus received 403 orders and options, 375 were for the A-320neo. Airbus could not sell even one Airbus A-380, so they reduced the production rate for them starting in 2018 to one per month. Boeing had 179 fixed orders, out of which 150 were for the 737 family. Additionally Boeing and the Volga-Dnepr Group signed a contract covering long-term logistics support and a purchase intent for (20) 747-8F. Boeing stated that "The new 747-8 Freighter gives cargo operators the lowest operating costs and best economics of any large freighter airplane while providing enhanced environmental performance."
Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate, dominated the regional jet market with 272 fixed orders and 398 options. Embraer brought their E190-E2 to Farnborough just a few weeks after its maiden flight.
The Russian Sukhoi Super Jet 100 was displayed in the livery of their latest customer CityJet: an Irish regional airline. The interior was designed by the Italian designer Pininfarina (who also designed several Ferrari models). The aircraft, developed by Sukhoi and Alenia Aeronautica, a joint venture company, and according to them "the SSJ100 is the most up-to-date and environment-friendly 95 seat regional jet on the market." This particular aircraft destined to be used by the Irish Olympic Team to fly to Rio. The Canadian manufacturer Viking is expected to delivered the hundredth Twin Otter in October this year. Fifteen more of this robust aircraft were on order.
On the military side, it was a duel by troop transporters. Lockheed Martin's C-130J got a competitor with Embraer's KC-390. Embraer developed KC-390 Transporter/Tanker made its successful debut at the show. Before the initial flight-test prototype arrived in Farnborough, it has made a stopover at Alverca air base in Portugal, where it was presented to the Portuguese air force. Portugal has signed a letter of intent for six examples of the KC-390 as a replacement for its aging fleet of the Lockheed Martin C-130Hs. Paulo Gastão Silva, VP KC-390 Program, explained the details of the aircraft during a press briefing "Our vision is to bring the troops comfortably as possible to their destination." The briefing was followed by guided tour through the aircraft. plane. The KC-390 has a real toilette on board! After Farnborough the KC-390 will be on tour visiting the Czech Republic, three other countries in the Middle East and several potential customers in Africa.

The Antonov An-178
The Antonov An-178 made its official debut at the Farnborough Air Show. The An-178 was part of the daily flying display. Saudi Arabia had ordered 30 copies of this robust transporter.
The British military was on a shopping tour. The procurement of nine Boeing P-8 Poseidon where confirmed at FIAS 2016. The first two Poseidon should be available for the Royal Navy in April 2018. The purchase of 50 Boeing AH-64E Guardians was also confirmed. The first helicopters for the Joint Helicopter Command will be available in spring 2020. The purchase of 20 of new Certifiable Predator B (CFB) for the Protector-Program of the Royal Air Force was confirmed also. The Predator's should replace the existing fleet of 10 MQ-9 Reaper.

Royal Navy F-35B
The Saab Group, had a JAS 39 Gripen on display with various armaments, including the new MBDA Meteor missile. At FIAS, the Swedish Air Force (SwAF) announced during a ceremony that MBDA's Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile has now officially entered service on its Gripen combat aircraft. Major General Helgesson, Chief-of-Staff of the SwAF said, "After extensive testing by FMV and the Gripen Operational Test and Evaluation unit, all of the new MS20 functions including the Meteor missile are now fully integrated with Gripen. The Swedish Air Force is now in its Initial Operational Capability phase with the Meteor. The Meteor missile is currently the most lethal radar-guided missile in operational service, and the Swedish Air Force is the only operational user so far. I am very proud and satisfied to have the Meteor in the inventory of my air force." When the MBDA Meteor is compared an AMRAAM, its throttleable ramjet and active radar seeker combine to provide unmatched end-game speed and manoeuvrability at greatly extended ranges, resulting in a No-Escape Zone several times greater than other existing weapons.
One of the main highlights for aviation enthusiasts was a flying display of Boeing 727 from T2 Aviation. The aircraft is equipped with a spray bar at the rear fuselage to spray liquid on oil spill sites. It was not only a Boeing 727, it was the last produced Boeing 727-2S2F with serial number 22938/1832 delivered on Sep. 18.1984 to Federal Express. Now in service for T2 Aviation which operate for Oil Spill Response.
The daily flying program on the trade days was short but without stop. Monday the flying program was cancelled due to heavy rain also the site had to be closed early due to flooding. The weekend flight display area was moved further away from the spectators as a result of last year's accident at Shoreham.
FIA16 Key Stats: US$124 billion of orders and options announced 95 aircraft featured in the static/flying displays 1500 exhibitors from 52 countries 73,000 trade visits over 5 days 73,000 trade visits over 5 days 25% of trade visits were CEO or Director level 1451 accredited media 98 military delegations from 66 countries
Aircraft making their Farnborough debut in 2016: F35 Lightning II Boeing 737 Max Bombardier C Series Embraer E190-E2 Embraer KC 390 Embraer Legacy 500 Antonov AN-178 HondaJet Diamond Dart-450 Gulfstream G500
would like to thank all who gave us such an incredible support in Farnborough among them: Mrs. Valtécio Alencar and Mr Paulo Gastão Silva of Embraer, the Airbus Group, Lockheed Martin, the Saab Group, Leonardo and Sukhoi. Mrs. Anita Lentsch from Diamond Aircraft for the great photo position. See you at FIAS 2018.
Some of the aircraft flying during the trade days:
F-35B & Red Arrows opening on Monday F-35B with C-130 on Tuesday Airbus A380 Airbus A350XWB Airbus A400M Atlas Boeing 787-9 Boeing P-8A Poseidon Eurofighter Typhoon Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet Leonardo M346 JAS 39 Gripen Diamond Dart 450 Royal Navy Black Cats Heli Demo Private Wings Do 328 Jet Antonov An-178 Boeing 727 Boeing 737 Max royal Navy F-35B
Static displays including mock ups:
Antonov 124-100 Boeing B747-8F Grob 109 Vigilant Rans S-6 Coyote II Yakolev Yak-52 Lynx Mk. 8 Anka S MALE UAV Gulfstream G280 Edgley Optica Series 301 Gulfstream G450 Gulfstream G550 Gulfstream G650 Dassault Falcon 2000LX Dassault Falcon 7X Embraer ERJ 190-E2 Embraer KC-390 Bristol Bulldog BAe Jetstream 31 BAe Hawk T Mk.2 Embraer Legacy 500 Embraer ERJ-135LR Airbus A319 Sukhoi Superjet 100 (RRJ-95B) General Dynamics F-16 SP C-27J (US Coast Guard) MH-60 Black Hawk Leonardo T100 AW101 CSAR AMI AW189 SAR UK AW149 C-27J Spartan Diamond DA42 VI Diamond DA42 MPP Guardian Diamond DA62 and so many more...
Report and photography by Wolfgang Jarisch

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