Organisers of the Aviation World's Fair have to find another venue after the US state of Virginia withdrew financial support for the Centennial of Flight event, citing poor exhibit and ticket sales. The exhibition planned for 7-27 April at Newport News has been cancelled.
Virginia's Secretary of Transportation says "the inability to reach minimum goals for sponsorship, ticket sales and exhibitor revenues...makes additional taxpayer funding for this event inappropriate. The promoter has been unable to secure a single sponsor for the event." Virginia says fewer than 100 exhibitors have signed up, against the 1,600 originally projected.
Virginia had accelerated almost $30 million in infrastructure improvements at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport to support the event. Aviation World's Fair says it is "shocked at the lack of willingness by the city and state to find solutions to the challenges we faced as partners".
Competition to attract sponsorship and exhibitors for events in 2003 is heating up, with companies reluctant to spend money on another event in a year that includes the Paris air show and over 20 other international events.
Meanwhile, North Carolina's First Flight Foundation is struggling to raise the $3 million required to build an expanded visitors' centre on the site of the Wright brothers' first flight in Kitty Hawk.
Source: Flight International