Highlights

Interview with Florence Laforgue, Airbus project manager in charge of EADS stand

Florence Laforgue, the Airbus project manager in charge of the stand organisation on behalf of EADS, gave our team a closer look at the exhibitor’s side. “The first day was the busiest because many important delegations visited our stand and I’m satisfied by our performance during the expo.” She has been working on the Aviation Expo China event from the beginning of the year: “The first step in January was to contact the different business units in China, allowing me to know who will participate to the show.” Then she booked a space with the event organisation team - this year it reached 110sqm compared to the 104sqm of 2009. “The second step in March consisted in contacting the business units again to choose what to display on the stand and obtain definite requirement specifications.” After the Paris Air Show (link to PAS highlights) in July 2011, she organised an invitation to tender to find a service provider that could realise the design and prepare the stand, which includes a meeting room. During the summer, her tasks have been pure logistics around the event: book a hotel for the attending EADS members, take care of the badges, etc. But the job is not over when she returns to her homebase of Toulouse, France. She will soon prepare an overview of the four days, including statistics, and activities on or outside of the stand. She feels this air show was successful, especially because many Chinese media covered the exhibition and were interested in EADS, among them CCTV, Xinhua and CAN news. This is not the first time she has organised something in China, and her feeling about it remains very positive. If there is any difference with the other countries, she would only mention the language difficulty. But this won’t prevent her from preparing another expo in China for EADS… what about Zhuhai in November 2012?

Highlights day 4

It is day four and the Aviation Expo China is now coming to an end after four intense days. As is the usual practice, the first three days (Sep.21-23) were for professional visitors and important delegations, with the last day (September 24) open to the public. The Expo attracted 25,000 visitors, among them 9,000 were professionals. There’s been a burst of activity around the EADS stand during the event and it is now time to assess the outcome of those four days by describing the company’s success in China. The EADS Group and its joint ventures currently have more than 1,100 employees in multiple locations across the country. The A380 has already seduced many Chinese people, and China Southern Airlines, the largest airline in Asia, chose this aircraft to complement its fleet. Astrium’s Infoterra radar satellite service was also sucessfully used in the areas affected by the Sichuan earthquake. Concerning the Chinese market for civil helicopters, Eurocopter is the leader with more than a 40% market share. The latest major success is the EC225 Super Puma, which in July 2011 joined in the Sea Number One Rescue Fleet of the Chinese government. Finally, Cassidian has won a number of major contracts in China with its TETRA solution, including the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. All those products combined with a presence in the country going back 40 years underlines the Chinese vote of confidence in EADS Company’s product range.

Feedback from Florence Laforgue, Airbus project manager who arranged EADS stand

 Florence Laforgue, the Airbus project manager in charge of the stand organisation on behalf of EADS, gave our team a closer look at the exhibitor’s side. “The first day was the busiest because many important delegations visited our stand and I’m satisfied by our performance during the expo.” She has been working on the Aviation Expo China event from the beginning of the year: “The first step in January was to contact the different business units in China, allowing me to know who will participate to the show.” Then she booked a space with the event organisation team - this year it reached 110sqm compared to the 104sqm of 2009. “The second step in March consisted in contacting the business units again to choose what to display on the stand and obtain definite requirement specifications.” After the Paris Air Show (link to PAS highlights) in July 2011, she organised an invitation to tender to find a service provider that could realise the design and prepare the stand, which includes a meeting room. During the summer, her tasks have been pure logistics around the event: book a hotel for the attending EADS members, take care of the badges, etc. But the job is not over when she returns to her homebase of Toulouse, France. She will soon prepare an overview of the four days, including statistics, and activities on or outside of the stand. She feels this air show was successful, especially because many Chinese media covered the exhibition and were interested in EADS, among them CCTV, Xinhua and CAN news. This is not the first time she has organised something in China, and her feeling about it remains very positive. If there is any difference with the other countries, she would only mention the language difficulty. But this won’t prevent her from preparing another expo in China for EADS… what about Zhuhai in November 2012?

Highlights Day 3

 Its day three at the expo and it is bustling with activity. Many important figures from EADS’ presence in China attended this event, including EADS China CEO Dominique Laporte, Airbus China CEO Laurence Barron and Eurocopter China CEO Bruno Boulnois. With a 10% growth rate, the China market is indeed enormous but the environment for business is challenging. According to the Airbus global market forecast (link: http://www.airbus.com/company/market/forecast/), the greatest demand for passenger aircraft will come from airlines based in the People’s Republic of China. Airbus estimates China’s likely demand for commercial aircraft over the next 20 years will follow a 7.2% growth rate – the second largest in the world – and the Asia Pacific region will represent 34% of world deliveries between 2011 and 2030. Eurocopter’s prospects for the future also do not look that bad - it is estimated that China will need at least 450 helicopters by 2015; this demand could exceed 1000 aircrafts over the next 10 years once airspace regulation is relaxed. The country will boost its capacities in public service missions such as homeland security, search and rescue (SAR), emergency medical service (EMS), disaster relief, fire fighting, etc. as well as strengthen its service offering. So what is in store for day 4? Stay tuned for a video with the Eurocopter CEO coming out tomorrow!

Highlights Day 2

On day two of the four-day expo, the EADS team took a deeper look into the partnership established in China. Talking to some EADS China employees who manage these relationships, it becomes clear that far from being a newcomer to this market the Group has been part of the expansion of the Chinese aviation industry from the beginning of its 28-year development. First to enter the Chinese market was Eurocopter in 1967. Cooperation started in 1980 with the licensed production of the AS365 Daupin helicopter. Today, Eurocopter has two ongoing programmes with Chinese industry set up through a joint venture: the EC120B Colibri and the EC175/Z15 helicopter programmes. Although not the first to set foot in China, Airbus’ footprint is quite clearly the largest. Airbus currently has four joint ventures in China. The Hua-Ou Aviation Training and Support Centre and the Airbus Engineering Centre (ABEC) are both located in Beijing. The A320 Final Assembly Line China (FALC) and the Airbus Delivery Centre, which is a subsidiary, are both located in Tianjin and the Harbin Hafei Composite Manufacturing Centre, located in Harbin, round out the joint ventures. In addition, Airbus has several major technology transfer programmes in place including one that will enable the complete wing of the A320 to be manufactured in Xi’an.

Highlights Day 1

For the past 26 years, Aviation Expo China has been held successfully. The opening ceremony held at 10 am highlighted the major “leap frog” development China has made. With the recovery of the world economy, the Chinese aviation market is facing many opportunities. Among the delegations attending the ceremony Mr. Laurence Barron, CEO of Airbus, was sat in the first row near other officials from the Ministry of Transport. Mr. Lin Zuoming, president of AVIC, couldn’t attend, but emphasized on a video Chinese’s wish for the future: “we want partnerships and not competition”. He added that Chinese aviation companies made a lot of progress within the past 20 years, offering efficient products that meet today’s needs.