What can visitors to AERO Friedrichshafen expect in 2023, what is returning, what is new and what makes this year stand out?

The attendees can expect a bigger show setup compared with the 2022 re-start edition, with 11 exhibition halls and an outdoor static display full of innovation. The variety of topics are very high and aircraft on display will range from civilian drones to gliders; ultralight and light-sport aircraft; gyrocopters; helicopters; touring and training aircraft with piston engines or turboprops; and business jets. New propulsion systems, electric flight, state-of-the-art avionics, services and accessories for pilots are further focal points.

Sustainable Aviation is the main overarching topic this year with a very busy e-flight expo in Hall A7, a second edition of our AERO Sustainable Aviation trail and our new AERO Hydrogen Summit, which is a day-long conference dedicated to Hydrogen in Aviation (tickets can be bought here ).

Furthermore, the growing need for talent in the entire aviation industry is something we specifically tackle this year with the first AERO Career Day happening on the 21 April in our Conference Center West 1st floor. We will have nearly 30 exhibitors ranging from Airbus or Volocopter to Textron Aviation, Hillsboro, Heliservice International and Global Helicopter Service (GHS), and many more where these companies look for new talent acquisition and to inform about careers in aviation.

Approximately two-thirds of the attendees to AERO Friedrichshafen hold pilot’s licenses, how do you balance the exhibits to satisfy the interests of all the visitors, and what developments do you think will be particularly popular with the pilots and the non-pilots alike?  

We balance the different interests and reasons to attend within the B2B and B2C sector, and among pilots and non-pilots by developing the many different areas of the show to the next level by trying to get new and relevant exhibitors onboard the different areas accompanied by relevant conference formats and topics. Just like we did within our Business Aviation segment this year. We will have a very strong setup of exhibitors in the relevant halls and in our outdoor static display area – e.g. with Gulfstream exhibiting a G500 – and we also have for the first time the SETOps Conference held in cooperation with GAMA and Alison Chambers from Emerald Media on Friday 21st.

How do you intend to encourage non-pilots to start a career in aviation, as well as support current pilots to further their training and experience?

We try to introduce newcomers into the industry with our dedicated Be A Pilot Area in the Foyer West where Flight schools are especially present – this area is bigger than ever with more exhibitors this year. Also, our flight simulator area in Hall A6 is also focusing on certified simulators with exhibitors like RS Flight Systems, TFC and Entrol, but at the same time we have plenty of non-certified simulator exhibitors such as Aerosoft, VatSim or Honeycomb for non-pilots to step into. In addition, the AERO Career Day – as mentioned before – is also a great way to start and look for a career in aviation.

Can you share some of the highlights from the specialists and industry commentators that have been invited to present and discuss the advances in general aviation?

I foresee that all the content we offer on sustainable aviation and future of flight will be very important.

We continue to expect to have more than 200 conferences and presentations during the four show days and our two conference centers, and the four stages are again filled up with content, making it hard to just mention a few things. I foresee that all the content we offer on sustainable aviation and future of flight will be very important. This is becoming a major topic in nearly every bigger conference format at the show, such as the business aviation conference and the conference about the future of regional airports (both happening in the morning of the 20th on the stage in the Foyer West), and also of course within our AERO Hydrogen Summit, the SETOps Conference and our dedicated AERO e-flight sessions. Another very important highlight are the conferences linked to safety in general aviation of which there are plenty of on all four show days – people can choose this safety topic in the overall conference program to filter the content linked to safety

AERODrones was a successful element in last year’s event and has subsequently returned and been extended to cover three days, with a focus on police, firefighting and rescue services. What can the show offer to visitors that will engage them with the utility of UASs?

Indeed the show has been extended and will again be supported by our partners the Police of Bade-Württemberg and the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK). This year, visitors can expect a three-day drone exhibition with 45+ exhibitors – among them are DJI, ADAC Luftrettung, UMS Skeldar, Securiton, M4Com, a UAV DACH pavilion, and many more. Furthermore the three-day conference program delivers a great mixture of presentations from industry representatives as well as research and law enforcement bodies regarding drone missions in that sector.

Hall B5 is your dedicated Heli Hangar. Will there be many HEMS/SAR and firefighting platforms, and what makes this hangar especially attractive this year?

The Helicopter Hangar in Hall B5 will again be the center for rotary wing at AERO Friedrichshafen this year with the German Helicopter Association (DHV) as our main partner with a great mix of members in their pavilion. We will have the German Federal Police there with a H155 and a H120, as well as the German Army with a NH90 and a BO 105, and Loft Dynamics (former VR Motion) with their simulator. Furthermore we will have a four-day rotary wing conference program in our Heli Forum within Hall B5 with a very important presentation from a representative of the local state of Baden-Württemberg about their plans on restructuring all the HEMS bases in Baden-Württemberg.