By Sangeeta Saxena

Le Bourget. 20 June 2019.  After heavy rains all throughout the night yesterday the day dawned  with the pitter- patter but nothing takes away your spirit to make an early entry at the show. But the show was quieter and got an opportunity to take a lot of pictures of the displays without much hindrance.

But the surprise was Boeing having its wrap up conference at 9.30 in the morning which means there were not more announcements on schedule. But its arch rival’s business continued as usual.  Saudi Arabian low cost carrier  FlyNas placed an order of 10 A321XLR and converted its earlier  order of 10 A320 neo to A321 neo. Leasing firm Nordic Aviation Capital also ordered 20 A220.  Jet Blue converted its order of 13 A321 neo to A321XLR and placed an order for 10 additional Airbus A220-300. The show actually belonged to Airbus.

The smaller ones like ATR and Embraer and the regional giant Leonardo too had probably wound up with sales-purchase business. As all was quiet on their front too. ATR was busy showcasing its ATR 42 in absentia and Embraer enjoying the eyeballs it’s Profit Hunter was catching.  Leonardo attracted the crowds with its aircraft display but the business market was pulled by the SRT-800 Airborne SoftWare Defined Radio shown for the first time any where.

Leonardo’s eye catcher was the Falco Xplorer UAS it launched at the show . Meanwhile Raytheon and Black Sage announced a counter drone solution which will provide an integrated drone detection  and mitigation system for civil authorities, critical infrastructure and military installations. Elbit System’s Hermes 45 attracted attention on the fourth day too.

The day ended with a flying display of French aircraft bonanza of  Rafale and Falcon 8X and as always Pakistan’s JF 17 roaring in the sky on the fourth day too. Turkish attack helicopter T 129 and French Army’s Tiger helicopter showed their power in the sky.

Crowds seemed to have thronged post lunch so it seems the authorities had invited students to participate in the show a day prior the official public days. And now that business is over ot is time to sign off from Le Bourget. The stories will keep coming in the weeks ahead. Enjoy the PAS 2019 section.