By Edward Gabkwet  (Wing Commander)
The history of air shows and expositions has been traced to Reims, France, in August 1909 when some of the then world’s leading aviators met at a racetrack on the Bethany Plain outside Reims, France, to compete in the first organized international air meet.

The Reims Air Meet featured many prestigious contests, including those for the best flights of distance, altitude, and speed. Lucrative cash prizes and impressive trophies enticed the competitors to set new records in nearly every category. As the first competition of its kind, the meet attracted the attention of numerous political and military leaders as well as the public.

Spectators who watched the various contests experienced a wide range of emotions from sheer exuberance when their heroes won, to utter horror when their favourites crashed. The Reims Air Show almost exclusively established aerial competitions as a leading form of entertainment in the early 20th Century while at the same time setting precedence for all future air shows.

The organisers of the Reims Air Show faced the challenge of converting the region’s grape fields into a place that could accommodate the expected crowd, not to mention the pilots and their airplanes. To meet the challenge, they built special grandstands, a restaurant, a barbershop, and even press facilities. Overall, the entire Reims meet was a huge success and helped establish air shows as a major spectator sport.

Historically, spectators have attended air shows and expos for many reasons. Apart from being highly entertaining, people enjoy watching pilots fly variety of stunts. Others have found themselves drawn to air shows due to the sheer speed of aircraft. Patriotism and national pride have also helped draw people to air expos, while others have enjoyed cheering their own country’s pilots and air forces.

Some air shows are held as a business venture or as a trade event where aircraft, avionics and other services are promoted to potential customers.

The Farnborough Air Show held biennially in the United Kingdom is a good example of such shows where multi-million dollar deals are struck on yearly basis. Other air shows are held in support of local, national or military charities. Some military establishments often organise air shows at military airfields as a public relations exercise to thank the local community, promote military careers and raise the profile of the military.

For instance, the Royal International Air Tattoo which is held annually each July at Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford, Gloucestershire United Kingdom, and touted as the world’s largest military air show, is staged to support the RAF Charity Trust, a charity set up in 2005 to support the wider RAF family as well as develop a spirit of air mindedness of youngsters. The show also aims at promoting excellence within the RAF.

For the Nigerian Air Force, the maiden edition of its air expo tagged, ‘NAF Air Expo’ was held in 2010 at NAF Base Kaduna to herald NAF’s revival and provide a stage for the NAF to showcase its latest hardware. The first of its kind on the shores of Nigeria and indeed the West African sub-region, the Expo also afforded both foreign and local vendors the opportunity to showcase their products and services to the general public.

It is on record that over 10 foreign aviation-related companies like Aermacchi, Augusta Westland, Alenia Aeronautical and Selex Galileo all from Italy graced the three-day event to display their products to interested buyers. Pilotus of Switzerland, CATIC of China and some other local companies like El-Jahab and MENDS Aviation Medical Company were also in attendance.

The second edition of the Air Expo was held from 15-19 May, 2012 at the same venue. This year’s event, which  coincided with the 48th Anniversary of the NAF, was a crowd thriller. Considering the preparations that were put in place, the second edition of the Air Expo was a clear indication of the metamorphic transformation of an economic resurgent West Africa in general and the Nigerian nation in particular.

Besides, with over a triple increment in the number of participating companies, the Air Expo is moving towards becoming the fastest growing Air Show in Africa bringing together players in the global aerospace industry irrespective of their sizes.

Even more important is the quality of attendees expected at the event. So far, invitations have been extended to virtually all foreign Ministers of Defence, Commerce and Industry and Aviation with a large number promising to be in attendance.

The military hierarchy of these countries have also been invited.  The optimism and expectations expressed so far is an added boost and encouragement that has helped the present NAF leadership under  Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar to put in place all the necessary machineries at ensuring a hitch free Air Expo come May 2012.

Besides making security of visitors and their equipments a priority, Air Marshal Umar has gone ahead to build an apron and a new taxi way at the military airport situated inside the NAF Base, Kaduna while at the same time constructing a new and modern VIP lounge. With these arrangements in place, no doubt Air Expo 2012 promises to be a hitch free event that will unravel several significant and far reaching memorandum of understanding for the vendors and interested partners.

By far the most significant value of the expo is its importance to the growth of the Nigerian aviation industries and by extension the Nigerian economy. Imagine the import of the Air Expo in generating employment for Nigeria ’s teeming youths and the tourism industry. Imagine Nigeria becoming a trading hub for aviation related goods and services. Most importantly, just imagine its impact on the Nation’s aviation industry. Surely, the significance of the Air Expo is unquantifiable.

Considering its colossal importance to Nigeria , the NAF is hopeful that in the nearest future, the Federal Government through an affiliated Ministry or Agency would take over the organisation and management of the Air Expo. By so doing, the Government would be reassuring stakeholders of its endorsement and support for the show and its commitment towards its growth and development.

Gabkwet sent this piece from Abuja