New Delhi. Indian Civil Aviation Ministry’s biennial airshow, Wings India, is back and will be held at its designated venue in Hyderabad March 12-15, 2020.
Earlier called India Aviation, the show was first held in 2008, and then it was renamed as Wings India in 2017. Last year, in 2018, it was somehow merged into the Ministry of Defence’s Aero India, which has traditionally focused on military aircraft and systems.
India has had a robust civil aviation market over the last couple of decades, while in the defence sector, programmes to acquire combat jets, helicopters, transport aircraft and related infrastructure have been ongoing but rather slowly. This year though, the Indian Air Force’s requirements for combat jets (Rafale in September), and helicopters (heavy lift Chinook already inducted) and attack helicopters (Apache AH 64E due within weeks) is like a dream come true.
The Indian civil aviation sector is however turbulent due to persistent sickness of Air India and the recent closure of Jet Airways. The new Minister of State for Civil Aviation (Independent charge), the brilliant former diplomat Hardeep Puri, has initiated several steps to revive the sector, declaring that a resolution of the crises due to these two airlines, erratic fuel charges and troubles in the near regions like the Gulf is on the top of his agenda with defined timelines.
The dates for Wings India have been announced by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
Said FICCI’s Sr Assistant Director Ravi Shankar Barnwal, “We are pleased to announce the next edition of Wings India 2020, jointly organised by Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India and FICCI which is a flagship event on Civil Aviation (Commercial Aviation and GA/BA) and aerospace in this part of the world. The biennial event of the series of event is scheduled from 12-15 March 2020 at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad. The theme of the event is “India – Runway to a Billion Opportunities.”
