HYDERABAD: The city’s flagship aero show Wings India 2020 concluded on Sunday amid mixed feelings. The otherwise hugely-successful biennial event ran out of luck simply due to its inadvertent timing.
Just a day before the event began, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, leaving the organisers with two choices — to call off the event or conduct business as usual.
The former could set off panic and the latter could imply recklessness. It wasn’t an easy choice, so the organisers struck a middle path — shutting doors for public, who are allowed entry during the last two days of the five-day show. The move is a first since the event’s inception in 2008.
Putting on a brave face, the event organisers — the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of Telangana, Airports Authority of India and trade body Ficci — limited the event to a B2B (business-to-business) conference.
In other words, the underlying idea to hold the event was to restore both public confidence and business sentiment.
As Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stressed on Saturday, during such situations, one shouldn’t stop working. Despite the Parliament being in session, Puri spent almost an entire day at the event, including holding closed-door talks with airline CEOs and airport operators, jockeying for bargains.
If in the past, the aero show saw the mighty double-decker Dreamliners to colourful Bell Helicopters pulling crowds, the 2020 show was somewhat a dampener as it had fewer exhibitors, delegates and aircraft. For instance, several chartered flights such as the Gulfstream were conspicuous by their absence.
Executives Express spoke to, however, sounded optimistic.
“It’s a good turnout. Despite the coronavirus outbreak, we are seeing some serious participation from committed players,” said Amit Pathak of Pratt & Whitney.
Industrialists such as GV Sanjay Reddy, SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh, Vistara’s Leslie Thng and officials from Boeing and Airbus were in full attendance, but more marquee names were missing.
In all, 600 delegates attended the event as against the expected 1,500, while less than 100 exhibitors pitched their tents compared to the projected 150.
The show’s major disappointment was the number of aircraft on static display, numbering just about 10, unlike in the past.
Event paved way for pacts
On the upside, as many as 23 states participated in Wings India this year and the delegates held a record 271 meetings.
The event also saw some meaningful agreements signed among companies including GMR, SpiceJet and Airbus.