Bengaluru: The Make In India-themed five-day Aero India 2015, scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is expected to be by far the largest air show India has ever seen will take off Febrauary 18th and fly on for five days. This is the tenth edition of the Air Show.
The event, will be held at Air Force Station, Yelahanka (AFSY) off Bellary Road, defence production secretary G Mohan Kumar said at a presser conducted via video conference from New Delhi.
The 2013 edition of the Aero Show saw record number of visitors and participants. This is set to rise this year. Five aerobatic teams, besides IAF’s Sarang helicopter team, have confirmed their participation.
It is expected, to not only provide business opportunities for Indian private companies in the defence sector, but also an unprecedented visual treat for the public in general.
Mohan Kumar said the Swedish Air Force team, Aero Superbatics (UK), Airborne Services Ltd (UK), Flying Bulls (Czechosl-ovakia), and the US Special Forces have confirmed their performances over the five days of the event.
He said the total space dedicated for the event has been more than doubled from Aero India 2013’s 1.08 lakh sq metres to about 2.6 lakh sq metres, while the floor area for exhibits inside the five massive hangars-turned-exhibition halls has been increased by 35 per cent. A total of 72 aircraft will participate in the event.
“So far 25 countries have confirmed their participation and more will confirm this week,” he said.
The main participating companies are USA (64 companies), France (58), UK (48), Russia (41), Israel (25) and Germany (17). Defence ministers of eight countries are expected to visit.
Kumar said several seminars have been planned to focus on defence and aerospace; cyberspace; civil aviation; public-private partnerships; integrating Indian companies with global value chain; promoting state-of-art defence infrastructure; maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) issues; and defence offsets.
At least 300 CEOs of various domestic and foreign companies are expected to participate in seminars that include Global Investors and CEOs Conference, which will be inaugurated by defence minister Manohar Parrikar on February 19.
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat will be putting up exclusive stalls to promote tourism.
Security and Crowd Managment, a challenge
Several VIPs’ will be participating and crowd managment and security will be a nightmare.
Mayaskar Deo Singh, director, Defence Exhibition Organisation, said strict discipline had to be maintained with regards to entry gates and viewing gallery. A separate area has been set up for viewing air displays. Air Display Viewing Area (ADVA) with a detailed map about the approach roads to that venue would be put up shortly.”People have to adhere to the routes marked for them,” Singh said. “We are expecting footfalls of about one lakh per day on the two public days. It is going to be tough. We appeal to the people to follow instructions.”
Children and preganant women asked to avoid show.
Singh has asked pregnant women and children below six years to stay away from the air show due to the high decibels of the aircraft engines.
He said, last time, there had been several cases of little children temporarily losing their hearing.
According to experts, a condition called noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) can occur on exposure to persistent high-decibel sounds like a powerful aircraft engine. Young children are more prone to it because their hearing is very sensitive while it can also adversely affect unborn kids.
Scientific studies have shown that prolonged exposure to sounds exceeding 100 decibels may elevate an unborn baby’s risk of hearing loss.
Tickets available online
Tickets for the Aero India 2015, costing Rs 600 each, are available at Axis Bank branches. The Defence Exhibition Organisation (DEO) has also arranged for a 24/7 ticket kiosk to be opened at the Kempegowda International Airport. Mayaskar Deo Singh, director, DEO, said that cash transaction for purchasing tickets is not possible. Tickets can be bought only by using debit/credit cards. The tickets are also available online by accessing www.aeroindia.in.
