LA BORGUET, France (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron landed at Le Bourget in an A400M military plane on Monday (June 19) for the official opening of the 52nd Paris AirShow.
He attended demonstration flights by fighter jets and helicopters with French Defence Minister, Sylvie Goulard, and Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
The June 19-25 gathering takes place against the backdrop of surprisingly strong airline traffic driven by economic growth, but a steep drop in the appetite for new planes following robust demand for the latest fuel-efficient models in recent years.
Instead, many firms will talk up efforts to extract new revenues out of powerful data-crunching services, while the first Paris display of a U.S. stealth jet in decades, the F-35, points to a defence recovery at the world’s largest air show.
The meeting also comes amid tensions in the Gulf over a transport and economic boycott of Qatar that is fuelling questions over the resilience of a major source of demand.
