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IF EVER there was a bellwether for the state of the industry it is the Paris air show. This year's centenary salon takes place at possibly the bottom of the deepest, steepest economic downturn in decades.
Despite the hype and inevitable feelgood factor of a global gathering, it will be difficult to disguise the fact that - with falling airline passenger numbers and tightening government budgets only now feeding through to the supply chain - for many in aerospace the worst is to come. Yet there will be plenty optimism on show with companies behind key programmes from the A400M to the Sukhoi Superjet to the A350 and 787 keen to use Paris to give upbeat progress reports.
In the following features, our writers look at the aircraft, technologies and themes that will be in the spotlight at this landmark Le Bourget.
CONTENTS
- A350: Airbus's latest twinjet is entering its most critical phase of development
- 787: With the Dreamliner finally set to fly, we recall Boeing's turbulent journey
- Superjet: Can the regional jet rescue Russia's reputation in the industry?
- Narrowbodies: With no replacements in sight, what next for A320 and 737?
- Widebodies: The future of these great rivals, the A330/A340 and 777
- 747-8: Why Boeing is keeping faith
- CSeries: Can Bombardier seriously become a contender in mainline sector?
- Shaping the future: Could an experimental airlifter about to emerge from Lockheed's Skunk Works be the most significant X-plane since the early 1970s?
- Finance: Deep into the credit crunch, what chance for funding new airliners?
- Turboprops: Small two size up
- A400M: The way to save Europe's most ambitious military programme
- ScanEagle: The journey from fish-finder to battlefield UAV, with cutaway
- Rafale: Is this the best hope yet for finding a foreign buyer for the fighter?
- Gripen: With a slew of export orders, Swedish warplane is on a high
- JSF: What Lockheed Martin can learn from 787 and A380 troubles
- EC725: How France's Caracal emerged a hero from Afghanistan
- Fly-by-wire: How cockpit technology came of age and where it goes now
- Human spaceflight: Will Europe send men and women to explore space?
- European industry: How first swell of recovery could lead to wave of mergers
- History: 100 years of Paris air shows in unique pictures from our archives
Source: Flight International
