Hong Kong and Macau will take turns at staging an annual air show for business jet manufacturers to reach corporate high-fliers in the Greater China market. The event will be organised by Reed Exhibitions, which stepped in last year to rescue the twice-yearly business jet event at the Asian Aerospace Expo in Hong Kong after the Asian Business Aviation Association pulled out. 'After talking to the [business jet] manufacturers, we found that they are keen to do a show in Asia every year,' said Richard Thiele, the head of global sales for Reed Exhibitions. 'We decided to host a new business aviation show in Macau in even years and do it in Hong Kong every other year.' This year's show will run from June 9 to 11 to coincide with the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Macau in which Reed Exhibitions is also involved. It is expected that G2E Asia, which was first held in Macau in 2007, will attract people who are also interested in the aviation event. 'We can get access to the delegate lists and send some special invitations to the potential clients of private jets,' Thiele said. More than 4,300 visitors from 60 countries attended the G2E show last year. 'We are considering flying some of the G2E attendees by private jets from their cities to the air show,' he said. Sixteen private jets were on show at last year's business jet show at Hong Kong International Airport, from a seven-seater commuter to an Airbus 320 business jet. Thiele expects a similar number to be on display at Macau International Airport in June.
