HAI Heli-Expo kicks off in Dallas

HAI Heli-Expo 2022 has opened at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas, after a two-year hiatus following the cancellation of the 2021 event due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The helicopter convention, which runs from Monday 7 to Thursday 10 March and is hosted by Helicopter Association International (HAI), includes a packed schedule of keynote speakers, technical briefings, educational sessions and product announcements. HAI is expecting around 14,000 industry professionals to be in attendance at the event.

The exhibition hall opens on Tuesday

The exhibition floor, which opens on Tuesday 8 March, features over 600 exhibits, including over 60 aircraft.

Exhibitors include aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Bell Textron, Boeing, Leonardo, Robinson and Sikorsky, as well as components, equipment and avionics manufacturers like Collins Aerospace, Garmin, Helitak Fire Fighting Equipment, Safran, Pratt and Whitney Canada, and United Rotorcraft.

The expo also features a range of 'working group' meetings for professionals working in, or interested in fields, such as:

• Aerial Firefighting and Natural Resources
• Air Medical Services
• Flight Operations, Vertical Flight Infrastructure, and Insurance
• Helicopter Tour Operators
• ‘Neighbourly’ flying and environmental awareness
• Restricted and Experimental Category Aircraft
• Safety
• Technical and Maintenance
• Training
• Unmanned Aircraft Systems
• Utilities, Patrol, and Construction

HAI will provide coronavirus face masks to attendees on request

Due to lingering concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, HAI have said that they will provide any attendee with a face mask who wants one, and that it will follow all state and local guidelines regarding their use.

Educational sessions will be set up to permit social distancing, hand sanitizer will be available throughout the convention center, and ‘high-traffic areas’ such as doorknobs and elevator buttons will be regularly disinfected.