Airbus to be largest exhibitor at FIDAE

Latest products, services to be showcased at Latin America’s leading airshow

Airbus will have a major presence at the 20th FIDAE air show, showcasing the latest products, services and innovations in the commercial aircraft, defence, space and helicopter markets. Since 1994, Airbus has participated in the biennial show, which will take place at Santiago Chile’s Arturo Merino Benitez Airport on 3 - 8 April.

After making its debut at FIDAE in 2016, the Airbus A350-900 is back and will be on static display and take part in flying demonstrations on 2 - 5 April. The A350-900 is the cornerstone of the A350 XWB Family, an all-new family of mid-size widebody long-haul airliners shaping the future of air travel, and since its launch, Airbus has captured nearly 50 percent market share of net orders of widebody aircraft in Latin America.             

The highlight of Airbus Defence and Space’s presence at FIDAE includes an A400M from the Spanish Air Force. This new-generation military airlifter has proven its capabilities in the most demanding theatres, also playing a critical role in humanitarian operations around the world. The highly-versatile C295 military transport and mission aircraft from the Mexican Air Force (SEDENA) will also be on static display. Airbus is the preferred partner of all three of Chile’s armed forces, with 12 light and medium military transport aircraft – C212, CN235 and C295 – in operation. In the space field, Airbus will exhibit its satellite offering. Visitors will see a mockup of the AstroBus-S, a compact satellite with high performance that was the basis of the Perú SAT-1, the Peruvian satellite built in a timeframe of less than two years and successfully launched in September 2016.

Leading the region’s helicopter market with 39 percent of deliveries in the past five years, Airbus’ helicopter division will showcase a wide range of products already in service. From the light single-engine H125 and H130 to the medium H155, to the light twin-engine H135 and H145, visitors will discover that Airbus has the right product for every helicopter mission.

Making its debut at FIDAE will be the Airbus H145 helicopter, which will be delivered to Chilean operator Ecocopter, becoming the first of its type in service in the country. With more than 100 helicopters in service, the Super Puma family will be represented by the nine-ton H215M that combines mission-proven ruggedness with a full glass cockpit, modern avionics, and very competitive operating and maintenance costs.  Operated by both Chile’s army and navy, the H215M will be part of their display.

Key Airbus activities at FIDAE include:

• Airbus will host a series of media briefings covering the commercial, helicopter, military aircraft and space systems markets
• Airbus will sponsor a variety of events running in parallel with FIDAE or organized by FIDAE, such as the IATA Wings of Change Conference, Aviation Leaders Forum and the IV Space Conference and the LARS 2018 Conference
• Airbus will also kick off the 2018 edition of InPlaneSight, a A400M global photo competition launched to celebrate the A400M entering into service with air forces around the world

Latin America is one of the first markets and sourcing partner regions for Airbus, with an order backlog of $50 billion and a legacy business that goes back more than 40 years. As one of Airbus’ key markets, Latin America is home to over 1,200 Airbus employees, at 21 sites across six countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay).