Global major aerospace groups Airbus and Boeing are using the current Paris Air Show (at Le Bourget Airport) to display innovative technologies and programmes. Airbus will also be marking its fiftieth birthday. Both companies will have commercial and military, as well as fixed- and rotary-wing, aircraft on display, both on the ground and in the air.

“Boeing will showcase its broad range of commercial and defence products, services and technologies at the 2019 Paris Air Show . . . The company’s presence and activities at the show will demonstrate its commitment to innovation, industry partnerships and safety,” stated the 102-year old American manufacturer. “The interactive exhibit will also highlight Boeing’s latest family of aircraft and services and give visitors a first look at the company’s vision for the future of mobility.

“Airbus SE will present a broad portfolio of innovative products, technologies and services which meet the aerospace industry’s requirements for today and into the future,” said the Europe-based group. “Its main pavilion contains displays on the following themes – the future of flight, from data to insight, a safer world, and space.

Boeing commercial aircraft on display are the 787-9 Dreamliner (an example belonging to Air Tahiti Nui), a 737 Boeing converted freighter, and a passenger air vehicle. Military aircraft being displayed are the F-15 Eagle fighter, the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and the KC-46 Pegasus air-to-air refuelling tanker, as well as the CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter and AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

The commercial aircraft being displayed by Airbus are an A350-1000, an Airbus flight-test A330neo (new engine option), a Hi-Fly A380, an airBaltic A220-300 and a La Compagnie A321neo (with an all-business-class cabin with 76 full-flat seats for transatlantic flights). The group’s Vahana electric-powered, fully autonomous, single-seat (or equivalent cargo) vertical takeoff and landing technology demonstrator is also on show.

Airbus fixed-wing military aircraft on display are the A330 Multirole Tanker Transport, the A400M airlifter and the Eurofighter fast jet combat aircraft (Airbus owns 46% of the Eurofighter company), as well as several unmanned aerial vehicles of varying sizes. Helicopters on show are the Tiger HAD attack helicopter and the H145M battlefield support helicopter. In addition, the VSR700 unmanned naval reconnaissance helicopter will be on display. Other helicopter types (the H160M, the H125M and the special forces version of the NH90) are represented by full or partial mock-ups.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company, with Airbus the second-largest. Boeing employs more than 150 000 people around the world, while Airbus’s global workforce totals some 134 000. Boeing generated revenues of $101.1-billion during 2018 – a record. That same year, Airbus revenues amounted to €64-billion (just over $73-billion at the exchange rate in force at the start of February).

The Paris Air Show opened on June 17 and will conclude on June 23. The first Paris Air Show was held in 1909, and, from 1924, it was held every two years, until the outbreak of the Second World War. Restarted in 1946, since 1949, it has been held every odd-numbered year (alternating with the Farnborough Air Show, in the UK, held every even-numbered year). It has been held at Le Bourget since 1953.