Le Bourget – A Bridgehead for Provence's Aeronautics Sector

More than forty companies will be showcasing their know-how alongside thirteen partners

From June 19 to 25, Provence is moving to Le Bourget for the 52nd edition of the International Paris Air Show. With 2300 exhibitors this year, the show is expected to attract 150,000 trade visitors. A regular attendee at this international event, Provence Promotion will be on hand to present the best of Provence's aeronautics industry, which brings together major groups, SMEs and research organizations. The economic development agency will be making the most of the foreign presence at the show to invite a dozen or so company executives to visit the region. What better way to get an idea of a local industrial ecosystem than by meeting its key stakeholders? Airbus Helicopters, Safran Aircraft Engines and ITER will be playing their part by welcoming the delegation of mainly North American businesspersons.

This latest edition of the Le Bourget show will see local stakeholders keeping a tight formation, with the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region, the SAFE Cluster and its members flying the flag on a 450-sq. m. pavilion in the International Paris Air Show's Hall 4 (stands B52-54-78). 

More than forty companies will be showcasing their know-how alongside thirteen partners including the ARII (*), the Var CCI and the economic development agencies Provence Promotion, Team Côte d’Azur, Vaucluse Provence Attractivité and Hautes-Alpes Développement.

Among the exhibitors, Team Henri-Fabre will be presenting the latest updates on its project, which include the extension to the Technocentre, a building dedicated to technology transfers in the fields of materials, processes of the future and mechanical engineering and advanced services to industries. In 2016, the Russian superconduction specialists SuperOx chose to set up their first Western Europe site at the Les Florides Technocentre, while at the same time signing a three-year contract with Airbus to supply cabling for the E-Fan 100 scheduled for roll-out in 2030. At a ceremony taking place on the stand on Wednesday June 21, the company's CEO Andrey Vavilov will be receiving the Invest in Provence Award from Solange Biaggi and Vincent Gabette, president of Provence Promotion and vice-president of Team Henri-Fabre respectively, accompanied by Jean-Luc Chauvin, president of the Marseille Provence CCI and Béatrice Aliphat, in charge of industry and energy grids at the Métropole Aix-Marseille Provence.

Industrial Tour of Provence

The very next morning, more than a dozen Canadian, US and Belgian companies present at Le Bourget will travel to Provence to find out more about the local ecosystem.

Provence Promotion, whose idea it was, will take the companies' representatives to Istres to visit Safran Aircraft Engines Snecma's new test facility and to Marignane to see the pooled resources platform at the Henri-Fabre Technocentre before calling in at Airbus Helicopters.

The tour, co-financed by Provence Promotion, Marseille Provence Métropole and Pays d’Aix Développement, is the result of several months' work targeting leading-edge companies in the fields of mechanical engineering and materials. Its aim is to promote the attractiveness of foreign businesses in Provence in order to crate cross-sector exchanges in the fields of aeronautics, energy and shipbuilding. One of the members of the delegation, the CEO of the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturing Association (MAMA), along with two of its members, will be visiting the ITER site at Saint-Paul Lez Durance. 

(*) Regional Innovation and Internationalization Agency for businesses in Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur.