Eyes on deals and trade competitors

At the Avalon exposition, ‘a company’s future can turn on a spontaneous five-minute presentation to a potential customer’.

Business visitors in front of the Lockheed Martin stand at Avalon 2017. There were 664 companies represented from 25 nations.

While aviation enthusiasts may wax lyrical about agility and speed in the air displays at Avalon 2019 this week, industry visitors will see every aircraft through the lens of their potential as a business opportunity.

The first four days, from Tuesday to 2pm on Friday, are for the business of aviation, aerospace and defence. Closed to the general public, the purpose-built exhibition halls at Avalon Airport will become the Asia-Pacific region’s largest single aerospace industry networking and marketing event.

It’s big, by any standard. The 2017 exposition’s trade days attracted 664 companies from 25 nations and more than 33,000 attendances, including 158 military, industry and government delegations.

They walked a 300-strong flight line of the latest light aircraft, business jets, airliners and military aircraft, saw some of the world’s most potent machinery put through its paces in daily air displays and attended 44 separate conferences, symposiums and briefings on subjects from advanced technologies to airport design, major defence acquisition programs, advanced manufacturing techniques, export opportunities and government regulation.

The vast majority will be there again for 2019, including major manufacturers such as Airbus, Embraer, Dassault, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and BAE Systems and suppliers large and small, including many of the 50 Australian companies that together have won more than $1.35 billion worth of work on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

They will come for the opportunities created by the concentration of industry, government, defence and academia. Avalon 2019 is an industry melting pot for sales, product launches, customer relationship development and market research, for seeking out potential suppliers and for keeping an eye on competitors.

Although seasoned campaigners usually arrive with meeting diaries overflowing, the exposition is still the place where a company’s future can turn on a spontaneous five-minute exhibition-stand presentation to a potential customer they may have been chasing for years.

And according to Ian Honnery, chief executive of the Avalon 2019 not-for-profit organising body Aerospace Australia Ltd, that is the event’s reason for being.

"We have established ourselves as the premier aviation, aerospace and defence trade event in Australia and the Asia-Indo-Pacific region," Honnery says.

“We provide a shop window for local technology innovators and we take Australia to the world by bringing the world to Australia. As such we have become an important driver of Australia's aerospace and defence sector.”

AAL’s charter is to promote the development of aviation, aerospace and Australian industrial, manufacturing and information and communications technology resources.

Avalon 2019 is a means to that end, providing an event platform that allows industry associations, businesses and government to “plug in” and network as part of the wider aerospace community.

The event is strong on industry development. Avalon 2017 saw the first in-country appearance of Australia’s new Lockheed Martin F-35. This year’s event will host the Space Industry Association of Australia’s inaugural Australian Space Industry Conference, designed to chart how Australian industry can play a part in this $400 billion-plus world market.

Avalon 2019 will also feature a two-day DroneZone Downunder conference, with some of Australia’s most successful commercial drone operators and field experts passing on their knowledge and experience to those considering entering this booming industry.

“Avalon 2019 is strongly supported by the Royal Australian Air Force, Airservices Australia, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Defence’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, the Defence Science and Technology Group and the departments of Industry, Innovation and Science and of Infrastructure and Regional Development,” Honnery says.

“This is the premier aviation, aerospace and defence event in the region and plays an important role in development of Australian industry.”

As with trade shows, the range of specialist conferences allows delegates to identify major players and mix with them in a casual setting. Organisations take advantage of the critical mass of industry to plan specialist briefings and functions to further relationships.

Philip Smart is executive manager, corporate communications, Aerospace Australia Ltd