By Sarah Saad
On the land of Egypt and at a distance of more than 370km from Cairo, where Alamein International Airport is located, the first edition of the Egypt International Airshow 2024 was held under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, with the participation of 100 countries and 300 companies, and a wide variety of aircraft included military, drones and guided aircrafts.
The Morale Affairs Department of the Armed Forces organised a field visit to the exhibition for a number of journalists, local, Arab and foreign media outlets. The Egyptian Gazette newspaper was keen to participate in this field tour and talk to a number of participating delegations.
Lieutenant General Derek France, Commander of the US Central Air Forces, praised Egypt International Airshow 2024, stressing that he thought it would be a regional event, but the size of the international participation aroused his interest to a great extent.
The Commander of the US Central Air Forces told the same newspaper, that the participation of the US Air Force is so large that they brought an American pilot from the Atlantic Ocean to participate in the air show held in Alamein.
He explained that the United States participates in the exhibition with a total of 4 aircraft, 120 individuals from the US Air Force as well as the American musical band.
CEO of the French company Safran, Christophe Brunet, expressed his pride in the wide global participation of major companies and institutions in the first edition of the exhibition. He said that the measure of the success of the exhibition comes from the size of the turnout, especially with the signing of a number of partnerships and agreements. In this respect, he said that his company handed over its accreditation documents of the engine factory, affiliated with the Arab Organisation for Industrialisation, to be the only factory in the world specialised in the overhaul of “Alpha Jet” aircraft.
Meanwhile, the head of the Qatari delegation Lieutenant Colonel Pilot Fahad Mubarak expressed his delight at to participating in the exhibition, noting that it comes within the framework of the close co-operation between Egypt and Qatar.
Bahadir James, one of the participants from Turkiye, said that this exhibition is considered one of the special events in the region, pointing to the capabilities shown in the air shows and the harmony between different air schools.
He told The Egyptian Gazette that it is a good choice to hold the exhibition in a unique city like Alamein with its clear skies that helped implement the airshows in the best possible way. He added that he looks forward for more Egyptian-Turkish co-operation in the areas of localisation, technology transfer and exchange of expertise, especially since the two countries have a lot of industrial and technical expertise.
The participants from the Indian pavilion also praised the distinguished relations and co-operation between Egypt and India and welcomed the Egyptian invitation to participate in the exhibition noting that they brought several Indian models.
One of the exhibition visitors from South Korea praised the excellent organisation of Egypt International Airshow 2024 as well as the wonderful support from the Egyptian Air Force, which made the work more enthusiastic and serious and gave more good impressions.
The head of the French company Edson praised the fruitful co-operation between Egypt and his global company.
The representative of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) said: “I thank the Egyptian Ministry of Defence and the Air Force for organising this professional and unique exhibition.”
The American Boeing company also participated in the exhibition as a silver sponsor, with a large set of products and services. It displayed its latest models of fighter, training and transport aircraft.
On the other hand, Brigadier General Pilot Majid Khamis, head of the UAE delegation, said: “We are participating in the exhibition with 11 aircraft, and the upcoming participation will be better, God willing.”
The Saudi Group also participated in the Egypt International Airshow 2024 .
Commenting on the activities of the most prominent and important event in the field of aviation and space, Major General Samir Farag, the strategic expert, said that one of his wishes was fulfilled after witnessing Egypt’s announcement of organising its first Egypt International Airshow 2024 , with the participation of more than 100 countries and over 300 companies.
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