To NBAA in Las Vegas today. It will be interesting to see how the show shapes up. The North American economy is languishing - like Europe's - and it's difficult to see much optimism for charter operators, while corporate flight departments (those that own their own executive jets) are hunkering down rather than looking at much in the way of replacement or additional equipment.
That said, the USA is where business aviation started and taking a corporate jet is a way of life for many of its executives. Infrastructure is established with plenty of fixed base operations, easy access to airports and little in the way of red-tape. Despite its troubles, it is still a thriving sector and the size of next week's show - filling the giant Las Vegas convention centre - will be testament to that.
The growing appetite for business jets in the emerging world is also a bright point for manufacturers and those service providers with the ambition and resources to tap into the opportunity. In China, no self-respecting billionaire (and there are plenty of them these days) wants to be without his personal jet, while in Russia, Brazil, India and the Middle East everyone from tycoons to corporations flying staff to far-flung mining, forestry and gas field operations are pushing up demand for private aviation.
So while NBAA remains very much an inwardly-focused North American show - the region's operators debating regulations and business - manufacturers and service providers exhibiting there will have as much an eye on markets overseas than at home.
I'll be blogging daily from the show from tomorrow.
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