Despite an India-Australia cricket World Cup warm-up match in Bangalore, Aero India 2011 saw 75,000 visitors on Sunday, the five-day event’s last day.
“We issued 3 lakh RFIDs (radio frequency identity devices) and still fell short of the demand,” wing commander MD Singh, joint director, Defence Exhibition Organisation, said.
The 2011 show was the biggest so far. There were nearly 75,000 business visitors and around 200 business-to-business meetings.
With the first three days primarily meant for business, the weekend crowd came to have last glimpses of the flight displays of some of the leading medium multi-role combat aircraft of the world and aerobatics by IAF Surya Kirans, Sarang and debutant Red Bulls’ Flying Bulls aerobatic team. A total of 51 aircraft participated in the static and other aerial displays.
“We got excellent cooperation from the Karnataka government, police, IAF and various other stake-holders,” Satyajit Rajan, joint secretary (exports) ministry of defence, said.
The event was organised by the department of defence production and managed by Confederation of Indian Industries at Air Force Station, Yelahanka.
Despite increasing the net area of the exhibition, the requirements of eight additional chalets and 10 company pavilions could not be catered to, the organisers said. But that did not prevent the inclusion of the Flying Bulls aerobatic team from the Czech Republic, which added a completely new dimension to the show’s glamour quotient.
Flying Bulls interacted with Surya Kiran pilots, who signed off in their gleaming Kiran Mk-II aircraft, making patterns in the sky, including a heart shape, drawing loud cheers from young couples, on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
The next time Surya Kirans will fly at an Aero India, it will be in the Hawks as the Kiran Mk-II aircraft they have been flying in will be routed for training rookie pilots.
Aero India 2013 will be held in Bangalore from February
6-11.
