The show is over, the actors have taken a bow. After five days of daredevilry in the sky, the heroes who twirled in air to thrill us head home safely with their aircraft – and possibly return in February 2019.
However, looking back at the past five days, many air show regulars and businessmen said they found the aerobatics muted, the planes fewer and the business buzz lower. Celebrity presence was at a low while a few Union Ministers were part of the inauguration.
But for Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s modest announcements and other MoUs with defence public sector units, business teams did not offer any significant news during the programme – a contrast from the bustling activity and frenetic interaction seen in the previous years. The number of companies on show was nearly 100 less, at around 550.
Indian products dominated the ‘international’ aero show, with HAL, Bharat Electronics Ltd and Defence Research & Development Organisation putting up their modest show-pieces on display (among them the new, indigenously-equipped surveillance plane AEW&CS Netra and the medium-range drone Tapas/ Rustom-2) or through elaborate exhibition stalls.
A senior executive of a UK-based mid-sized firm, that has an office in Bengaluru, said many mid-sized companies had the consolation of at least signing a letter of intent or receiving a few enquiries at their stall; but it was a poor show for small and micro enterprises who had hoped to get into the big fields of defence and aerospace.
However, others believed that an air show was not a place to strike business deals, rather to “make their presence felt.”
Defence Exhibition Organisation, the organising arm of the Ministry of Defence, however, confidently termed the show a success. “It drew unprecedented crowds that bear testimony to the premier Asian air show having come of age.”
The Ministry estimates that around 1.5 lakh business visitors and a whopping four lakh general public visited the expo. Despite the air show ending on a Saturday, unlike on a Sunday in the previous editions, the finale saw nearly 3 lakh people and traffic chaos all around Air Force Station Yelahanka.
As if echoing the government’s ‘Make in India’ clamour, homegrown and IAF birds dominated the sky: the new ‘Surya Kiran’ team formed by Hawk trainers; HAL’s Dhruv helicopter aerobatics team Sarang, the IAF’s roaring Sukhoi-30 MkI and the light combat fighter LCA. French fighter Rafale, which has finally bagged the government’s purchase deal, and the Swedish hopefuls Gripen Fighter Jets, did their pirouettes.
