History of Paris Air Show
The Paris Air Show (French: Salon international de l’aéronautique et de l’espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry’s primary representative body, the Groupement des industries françaises aéronautiques et spatiales (GIFAS), it is the largest air show and aerospace-industry exhibition event in the world, measured by number of exhibitors and size of exhibit space, followed by UK’s Farnborough Air Show, Dubai Air Show, and Singapore Airshow.
First held in 1909,[3] the Paris Air Show was held every odd year from 1949 to 2019, when the 53rd Air Show attracted 2,453 exhibitors from 49 countries and occupied more than 125,000 square meters. Organizers canceled the 2021 show due to the COVID pandemic and said it would resume in 2023.
It is a large trade fair, demonstrating military and civilian aircraft, and is attended by many military forces and the major aircraft manufacturers, often announcing major aircraft sales. It starts with four professional days and is then opened to the general public followed from Friday to Sunday. The format is similar to Farnborough and the ILA Berlin Air Show, both staged in even years.
The Paris Air Show traces its history to 1908, when a section of the Paris Motor Show was dedicated to aircraft. The following year, a dedicated air show was held at the Grand Palais from 25 September to 17 October, during which 100,000 visitors turned out to see products and innovations from 380 exhibitors. There were four further shows before the First World War. The show restarted in 1919, and from 1924 it was held every two years before being interrupted again by the Second World War. It restarted in 1946 and since 1949, has been held in every odd year.
The air show continued to be held at the Grand Palais, and from 1949 flying demonstrations were staged at Paris Orly Airport. In 1953, the show was relocated from the Grand Palais to Le Bourget. The show was drawing international notice in the 1960s. Since the 1970s, the show has emerged as the main international reference of the aeronautical sector.
Detailed history of Le Bourget Airport, the venue of Paris Air Show
After First World War, the air reserve continued its activities on the Le Bourget site. In the aftermath of the conflict, civil aviation benefited from installation and equipment at Le Bourget airport which quickly made it the benchmark Parisian airport. The first regular lines served London, Brussels and Amsterdam then, gradually, all of Europe. Le Bourget also became a place to stroll where you came to admire these machines that would soon connect the four corners of the world. It was a place of departure or arrival of large air raids. On May 8, 1927, l’Oiseau Blanc airplane took off from Le Bourget. Its pilots, Charles Nungesser and François Coli, hoped to reach New York nonstop; unfortunately the plane inexplicably disappeared. It was finally Charles Lindbergh who made the first aerial crossing of the North Atlantic between New York and Paris, on May 21, 1927. A huge crowd came to applaud the aviator, winner of the North Atlantic, posing on his Spirit of Saint Louis airplane. A huge crowd also welcomed Edouard Daladier on September 29, 1938, after the signing of the Munich agreements.
In 935, the architect Georges Labro won the competition for the construction of a new terminal for the international exhibition in Paris in 1937. The winning project was a building with sober architecture, 233 meters long, integrating the set of functions for the reception of passengers and the management of the airport. Not completely completed to welcome the first visitors to the world fair in June, the terminal was officially opened on November 12, 1937. In 1939, Le Bourget Airport, with 21,000 aircraft movements and 138,000 passengers, was the second airport in Europe after that of Berlin-Tempelhof.
During Second World War, the Germans took possession of the airport and enlarged it considerably while occupying the city. On August 16, 1943, American and British forces bombed the runways, but the air base remained occupied until the Liberation. This bombing of August 16, 1943, called operation Starkey, intended to destroy the airport, shaved the town of Dugny to 98% and the north of the city of Le Bourget.
At the Liberation, Le Bourget Airport was rehabilitated by the Americans and the British. From May 1945, 42,000 prisoners of war and deportees were repatriated and then passed through Le Bourget. After the war, airport traffic increased rapidly and, in 1952, Paris acquired a new airport, that of Orly. In the 1960s, the saturation of the latter led to a return of activities at Le Bourget but in 1974, Roissy-en-France airport was opened to traffic. Le Bourget airport was gradually abandoned.
Le Bourget Airport is exclusively dedicated to business aviation. It occupies an area of 553 hectares and has three runways, two of which can operate independently. It hosts 75 businesses offering airport and aviation services, including the major names in business aviation, and is a top industrial pole in Grand Paris as well as the leading business airport in Europe. Le Bourget Airport hosts the Air and Space Museum, a world class museum which pays tribute to the early 20th century air pioneers with 175 historic airplanes. The museum is open all days except Mondays from 9am to 5pm (6pm from May 1 to October 31).
Paris Air Show 2023
Paris Air Show 2023 will take place from June 19 to 25 2023 in Le Bourget Airport, 16km north of Paris. The biennial Paris Air Show is a world class event that aerospace professionals and lovers do not miss. 2023 will be the first Air Show since 2019, as the 2021 edition was cancelled. Single show entrance ticket valid for one day costs 17 euros. While visiting the aeronautics show, visit the Air and Space Museum, conveniently located in Le Bourget Airport too.
Paris Air Show information
The International Paris Air Show is organized by the SIAE, a subsidiary of GIFAS, the French Aerospace Industries Association, counting as members aerospace companies such as Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Safran and Thales.
Paris Air Show brings together all the players in this global industry around the latest technological innovations. The first four days are reserved to trade visitors, followed by three days open to the general public.
The show includes display of aircrafts, spacecrafts, satellites, aircraft engines, aerospace power-plant, airborne equipment and systems, cabin interiors, tools and software, composite materials, transport, services, airport equipment and services.
Paris Air Show date
The International Paris Air Show is held every two year, the odd-numbered years, in Le Bourget Airport.
The next edition will be held from 19 to 25 June 2023. The Show will be open 8:30am to 6:00pm.
The first four days of the Show, from Monday 19 to Thursday 22 June 2023, are reserved for the Trade visitors.
The Show is open to the General Public from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 June 2023.