Business aviation show postponed until February next year

One of the Middle East’s biggest business aviation events, the MEBAA Show, has been postponed until February next year due to ongoing concerns over Covid-19.

The event, which was originally due to take place from December 8-10 this year, has been pushed back to February 22-24 next year, the Middle East and North Africa Business Aviation Association said on Wednesday. The show will take place at the Airshow site at Dubai World Central.

“We have been closely monitoring the Covid-19 spread over the past few weeks as well as developments on travel restrictions from governments around the world,” Ali Alnaqbi, executive chairman of MEBAA, said.

“After very careful consideration of the situation and taking into account feedback from our exhibitors and stakeholders, we believe the decision to postpone the event is in the best interests of the health and safety of our exhibitors, visitors, contractors and staff.”

Airlines worldwide are facing a loss of $84.3 billion (Dh309.5bn) this year as revenues are expected to fall by 50 per cent due to low travel demand, according to trade body the International Air Transport Association.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi's Global Aerospace Summit from September 28-29 will be held as an online gathering of top executives in aviation, space and defence to discuss the industry's handling of the pandemic.

The MEBAA Show is a meeting place for business aircraft manufacturers, avionics firms, charter companies and aircraft resellers, offering the opportunity to network with regional and global high-end travel operators.

Mr Alnaqbi added that despite the show postponement, the business aviation industry can look forward to “a quality event”.