Dubai Air Show

Sunday the 15th of November the Dubai Air Show 2009 will officially start. It promises to be the highlight of an otherwise very grim year for aviation for many reasons;

1. The number of exhibitors have increased over those of 2007.

2. It is held in an area that has bucked the trend and is actually shows growth.

3. As always people are intrigued to hear what Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have to

order.

4. The first show held when Social Media is so popular and the ability to catch up through

Twitter and Facebook, great fun.

For first timers Dubai Air Show is an awesome event, with all these aircraft on static display or the 2 hours of flying displays. It fills me with awe every time I watch, even though some o them are the same routines from previous shows. The exhibition halls that house all these big, famous and not so big and famous that make up aviation, all under one roof, so accessible and so friendly and easy to talk to is an inspiration.

For me personally, it is a time of catching up with friends, yes old friends. The ones I thought I lost track of, somehow we all surface again at air shows. Time to check on families and careers; where they were and where are they heading.

It is a time of feeling proud of being part of an industry that refuses to be beaten or put down by recession, terror or politics. An industry that innovates its way out of trouble and never gives up.

In a region where aviation is at the leading edge of technology and all its innovation and creativity.

In a region that showed the world that "yes we can" through 9/11 and all its persisting conflicts, SARS, Avian Flu, H1N1 and recession.

In the course of the coming week I will blog and share events and feelings, I am so looking forward to it.