Another successful PAvCon Europe
PAvCon Europe 2023 was hosted by the Basque National Police Force, Ertzaintza, at their helicopter base near Durango, east of Bilbao
Following the event’s usual format, the two-day event on 5–7 June 2023 was part conference and part exhibition, with training inputs from a number of European police aviation units, including the French Gendarmerie, the Netherlands Police Air Support Unit, Belgium, Sweden and Hungary.
The event was attended by around 180 aviation professionals, alongside representatives from both large and small aerospace companies, including Airbus, Bell and Leonardo. Approximately 40 exhibitors attended the conference.
Airbus and the French Gendarmerie introduced the new law enforcement configuration for the Airbus H160 medium-sized utility helicopter to the delegates and exhibition visitors. The Gendarmerie became the first law enforcement customer for the H160 in January 2022, ordering a fleet of 10 helicopters. The Gendarmerie are expecting the H160 to feature heavily in their developing plans for safeguarding the Paris Summer Olympics next year.
Meanwhile, the Dutch National Police returned to the event to speak about combatting the illegal cultivation of marijuana.
The organizers of the event noted that an ‘unexpected gap’ was created in the original program due to unexpectedly high prices for air fares between the US and Europe, forcing ‘a number of US-based speakers’ to not attend. However, they stated that: “Thankfully, there were plenty of alternative speakers from Europe, and the conference was not unduly affected.”
They added that next year, attendees should expect to see a number of ‘changes in operating and format’.