Colourful start

On this occasion, HH Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa  congratulated His Majesty the King on the Air Show’s success, a milestone which is another accolade in the Kingdom’s achievements under the wise leadership of His Majesty the King, and which plays a pivotal role in attracting investments to the aviation industry and in supporting the national economy. 

 Speaking about the fourth edition of BIAS, Eng. Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Organising Committee of BIAS, said:  “BIAS saw the attendance of high level international participation represented by the Ministers of Transport and Economy, Civil Aviation chiefs, CEOs of airline companies and senior executives from government and private sectors. The first day has delivered deals worth USD7.6 billion with national carrier Gulf Air signings deals with both Boeing and Airbus. As the first show of the year in the international aviation events calendar, this announcement is an encouraging sign for the civil aerospace industry, he said.”

 Comlux also announced the launch of its new VIP service centre in the Middle East with Texel Air, which will provide customers with dedicated MRO Line Maintenance and cabin upgrades and refurbishments on their VIP aircraft.  In addition to the announcements of deals, a series of meetings were held as part of the Hosted Buyer Programme, which is a new initiative introduced in this edition. 

The show’s growth is also demonstrated in the expansion of the Feature Pavilion which is 47pc larger than that of 2014 and includes 10 companies under the umbrella of the Saudi Arabian General Authority of Civil Aviation and four companies from the UK as part of the UK Partnership Pavilion, Kuwait, France, India, Russia, Sudan, and Turkey, as well as additional companies in the aviation industry allowing trade visitors to see their latest products and learn about their services.

 Bilateral meetings were held between Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and UK Minister of State for Defence Procurement Philip Dunne MP; and French Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Matthias Fekl and Firnis Chelag, Hungarian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 Central to the day’s events was the impressive flying programme comprising displays from the official aerobatic teams of the Saudi and UAE Air Forces as well as the Indian Sarang helicopter team, plus further aircraft displays from the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) and US Air force.

 This was supported by a remarkable line-up of both commercial and military jets on static display.  The day concluded with a gala dinner held under the patronage of HH Shaikh Abdullah and hosted by the Bahrain Airport Company for the visiting delegates held at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay.