The biggest news of the last month came from the 18th edition of Dubai Airshow that was held from November 13-17, 2023. Emirates Airline signed an order for 95 Boeing wide-body aircraft for a total value of $52 billion. This mega order along with plenty of other signings set the tone for the huge success of the show.

The Dubai Airshow 2023 hosted over 1,400 exhibitors, showcasing 180+ aircraft on flying and static display from over 20 countries, each displaying its groundbreaking products and technologies. This high-profile international event offered a glimpse into the ever-evolving world of aerospace, delving into the industry’s latest trends, and also to be a platform for strategic networking, a showcase of state-of-the-art aircraft, knowledge building conferences, and much more.

An exciting addition was the brand-new Advanced Aerial Mobility pavilion. It offered the chance to marvel at cutting-edge innovations in flight technology, presenting the latest eVTOLs, drones, and UAVs. The Dubai Airshow 2023 set a spotlight onthe booming flying taxi market. Dubai is at the forefront of the growth of disruptive aerial transportation, fast becoming the future of aviation.

Dubai Airshow also had the presence of a significant number of business aircraft, reflecting on the burgeoning Business Aviation market in the Middle East. As per forecast, the global BA market is expected to grow for $42 billion in 2022 to $44 billion in 2023 and $62.5 billion by 2030 with the Gulf BA market leading the growth. Ayushee Chaudhary reports on the Dubai Airshow (Part 1) and also the state of Business Aviation in the Gulf in this issue.

The latest India-US 2+2 Ministerial dialogue, held on November 10, has shown that bilateral relations between the two countries have become multi-faceted, indicating the robust health of the partnership. US has already given the green flag to go ahead with the proposal to jointly produce the GE F414 Jet engines in India. In the recent meeting, the Indian side gave a go ahead to US proposal to jointly develop and manufacture Stryker armoured fighting vehicles. Ranjit Kumar brings you details of the meeting.

Another country that India enjoys a robust relationship with, especially in matters of defence and security, is Israel. Over the past few decades Israel has stood by India and provided rock-solid support with their Aerospace and Defence industry providing the Indian Armed Forces with their latest weapons systems, no questions asked! The Israeli company that has contributed the most to this support to the Indian Armed Forces and the IAF is IAI (Israeli Aerospace Industries). From a modest beginning, this company has grown to become a global aerospace behemoth on the back of their innovations and technological excellence. Today, IAI is not just a major contributor to Israel’s defence requirements but also a leading global supplier of the entire range of products and services in the Aerospace, Defence and Homeland Security domains. Group Captain D.K. Pandey (Retd) covers the ongoing support of the Aerospace Industry of Israel to the Indian Air Force and also the growth of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in this issue of the magazine.

All this and more in this issue of SP’s Aviation. Welcome aboard and we wish you many happy landings!