Pakistan's new JF-17 Thunder also taking part: Paris Air Show goes green but sales war takes centre-stage

With air passenger numbers set to double to six billion annually by 2030, the world's premier air show in Paris will next week focus on green issues even as the aircraft sales war remains centre stage. The Paris Air Show brings together some 315,000 visitors and 2,260 exhibitors from 47 countries, with much of the attention focused on which big manufacturers, particularly Airbus and Boeing, will land the most orders.
But the event happens to be hosted in the same Le Bourget venue outside Paris that will welcome world leaders later this year as they try to hash out a global deal to curb greenhouse emissions. So it is little surprise that this year's air show, running June 15 to 21, will put a special focus on environmental issues and innovations. Top industry officials, government ministers and environmental experts will meet on June 18 to discuss air travel's impact on the climate, and there will be a week-long exhibition on the subject called "The Sky of Tomorrow".
"Building planes that emit less and less CO2 remains a leading challenge for the aeronautic industry," said Marwan Lahoud, president of GIFAS and one of the event's organisers. "The Paris Air Show will be the chance to see the results and innovations achieved by manufacturers direct from the source," he added. Attendees will include Nobel peace prize co-laureate Philippe Ciais of France's Climate and Environmental Sciences Laboratory, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, and a host of top air industry honchos.
The air industry's contribution to climate change is complex and controversial. Although planes are thought to be responsible for only around two percent of global greenhouse emissions, some researchers have found that the different types of gases released and their high altitude may have more powerful short-term effects. The industry's global mouthpiece, the International Air Transport Association, has set a target of being carbon neutral by 2020 and halving CO2 emissions by 2050, primarily through increased use of cleaner fuels.
Sales war: For the general public, all eyes will be on the sky with flying displays by around 40 aircraft each day, including fighter jets such as France's Rafale, Pakistan's new JF-17 Thunder and Ukraine's Antonov 178. Airbus has also confirmed it will display its A400M military transport plane for the first time since a fatal crash in Spain last month caused by a massive engine failure.