At Aero Friedrichshafen, the wide range of products and services on the show floor and the static display represented an indispensable element in the current transformation of aviation towards more sustainability.

The comprehensive provision of exhibitors was appreciated by the expert and very international audience where a high percentage of the 27,200 visitors hold a pilot’s license.

For the first time, catering to those that haven’t yet moved into aviation as a career, there was a ‘Career Day’ where exhibitors had a forum to offer interested parties real career prospects in aviation.

This year's AERO has seamlessly continued the successful pre-pandemic trade shows and new event modules have been successfully established.

Tobias Bretzel, AERO show director, said: “This year's AERO has seamlessly continued the successful pre-pandemic trade shows and new event modules have been successfully established. Over the four days, visitors were able to gain a comprehensive overview of the diversity of general aviation. In the diverse conference program, they were able to learn about new products and future projects and concepts, and they were able to educate themselves on safety in aviation.”

“We saw a great AERO with a high international participation. The unfavorable weather on Thursday and the rail services strike on Friday prevented an even better result in terms of visitor numbers,” added Stefan Reisinger, Managing Director of AERO organizer fairnamic GmbH.

AERO offers the industry a platform for informing the public about the status of efforts to achieve greater sustainability: with the e-flight-expo, which has been held since 2009, AERO set an important milestone early on in the current phase of aviation transformation –bigger than ever with 50 exhibitors – demonstrating that electric flight, vertical take-off and landing air cabs, hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft, new fuels and new manufacturing processes will define the future of aviation.

The extensive AERO conference program, which this year included more than 200 individual events, provided important impetus. For example, the SETOps conference brought together existing and potential operators of commercially operated single-engine turbine aircraft to encourage aviation regulators to act more pragmatically and more quickly, while the AERO Hydrogen Summit featured intensive discussions on hydrogen as an energy source for aviation.

AERO Drones, which this year for the first time covered three days as a trade show within the wider trade show, dealt exclusively with uncrewed aerial vehicles in social service, whether as part of emergency services, civil protection or security agencies.

The date for next year’s AERO has already been planned: the 30th anniversary edition will take place in Friedrichshafen from 17–20 April 2024.