Aviation returns to Paris 'to show off'

The biennial aviation trade show, which alternates years with the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom, was first held in 1909, making it the oldest aviation event of its kind. Le Bourget is where Charles Lindbergh landed after his historic north Atlantic crossing from New York in 1927, and a plaque commemorating his arrival in the Spirit of St. Louis is embedded in the apron.

Every other year, the show attracts more than 2,000 exhibitors from 48 countries, and organizers expect more than 300,000 visitors at this edition. About 150 aircraft are on display, including Airbus and Boeing airliners, numerous military airframes and unmanned systems, as well as single-engine experimental aircraft like JMB Aircraft’s VL3 and electric prototypes including Archer Aviation's Midnight and Beta Technologies' Alia CX300. About 210 flying displays were scheduled to take place over the course of the seven days.

While the sales rivalry among airline producers usually takes center stage at the summer airshow, with the major manufacturers set to sign deals worth billions of dollars, thousands of smaller companies take the opportunity to present their products to a diverse global audience.

GA is well-represented on the flight line. Gulfstream has brought its G600 and G700 models, the latter of which has the longest range of any of the company’s jets to date—7,750 nautical miles—and can carry up to 19 passengers, with a price tag of about $75 million. Dassault showcased its Falcon 6X and 8X, while Swiss manufacturer Pilatus brought its PC–12 and PC–24 models. Textron Aviation’s Beechcraft parked a pair of King Airs outside its chalet, the 260 and 360 light utility turboprops.

But numerous smaller manufacturers and start-up companies have also taken the leap onto the massive international stage. For example, Shark Aero, Textron eAviation’s Pipistrel, and Elixir Aircraft are also showcased in the static display. Some prototypes like Switzerland’s SmartFlyer have made the trek to Le Bourget for the first time, on the hunt for investors and partners. AAM projects Eve Air Mobility, Archer Aviation, Wisk Aero, Beta Technologies, and Joby Aviation may not be stealing the limelight as they have in the past, but as their respective aircraft march ever-closer toward FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification (both aiming for commercialization of their airframes by the end of the decade), they have definitely solidified their presence in the aviation ecosystem.

About 450 U.S. companies are exhibiting this year in Paris, many of them under the auspices of the U.S. pavilion, which is also celebrating its thirtieth year at the event.

Almost two dozen U.S. states, including Ohio, Colorado, Florida, California, Arizona, and Kansas, are showcasing their aerospace industries to a broad worldwide audience, and companies are on the hunt for foreign partners and customers. Newly imposed tariffs have cast a pall of uncertainty, and ongoing supply chain issues—a continued hangover from the COVID crisis—do come up in conversation, representatives say.

But U.S. government officials attending the show are upbeat about finding opportunities and making the industry even more attractive for foreign investment.

“The U.S. needs to focus on the next generation of civil aviation,” Alex Krutz, deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing at the U.S. Department of Commerce, said. “The U.S. is looking to partner with the industry in launching new aircraft, to jumpstart the next phase of American leadership and… to spur that innovation we need increased investment, [to] improve the regulatory environment, lower energy costs, and create competitive trade conditions.”

One of those regulatory improvements—at least in the eyes of European light aircraft manufacturers—is the finalization of the FAA’s Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification, or MOSAIC, rules. That proposal promises to update and expand the more-than-20-year-old guidelines that created the light sport aircraft category and the sport pilot certificate in 2004. Once adopted, the MOSAIC regulation will open up the category to a larger range of aircraft.

When the FAA published the proposed rule in 2023, the agency announced it “would put performance safety standards around larger aircraft that innovators are building by expanding the definition of Light Sport Aircraft.”

That’s music to the ears of companies like Pipistrel and JMB Aircraft, both of which are present this year in Paris. For those companies, conquering the U.S. market is the holy grail for their respective businesses.

“It’s an absolute gamechanger for us,” said Matej Ungr, sales manager at JMB Aircraft, which is based in Belgium and the Czech Republic. JMB’s VL3 is a light composite aircraft, and has a top speed of 190 knots, features retractable landing gear, and is IFR capable. Currently that model does not qualify as an LSA. In the United States, the VL3 must still be certified under an “experimental” registration, which increases the cost to insure that aircraft. Certifying the aircraft as an LSA under the MOSAIC rules would reduce premiums considerably, Ungr said.

Gabriel Massey, Pipistrel president, added, “We have a great product line that would do well under FAA light sport rules. MOSAIC will be a direct opening for our products to go directly to the market and the market will be able to take advantage of what we think is our best trainer.”

He’s referring to the Velis Electro, which was the first electric aircraft to be fully type-certified by EASA in 2020. MOSAIC would allow aircraft with battery-powered electric propulsion systems, like Velis Electro, to be certified as light sport aircraft in the United States for the first time.

Innovation is always writ large at the summer airshow, and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) companies usually have that department locked up, drawing the largest crowds the most popular background for selfies.

Boeing-owned Wisk has brought its sixth-generation eVTOL prototype to Paris, which it hopes to certify and commercialize later this decade. It aims to be the world’s first autonomous eVTOL, and the company announced partnerships with two more cities where it hopes to launch services: Miami and Kaga, Japan. Wisk aims to partner with those regions to develop infrastructure and build an air taxi network to service them. The cities join Houston; Los Angeles County; and Brisbane, Australia, as key launch markets in Wisk’s strategic plan to bring what it calls safe, everyday autonomous air travel to cities around the world.

Urban air mobility competitor and Silicon Valley neighbor Archer Aviation has announced several deals focused on the manufacture and supply of airframe components for its Midnight eVTOL. It also signed an agreement during the show to deploy a Midnight fleet in Indonesia. Archer had previously announced program deployments in the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia. The company was named Official Air Taxi Provider of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA in May. The company plans to transport VIPs, fans, and stakeholders, as well as provide support for emergency services and security.

The team at Vermont-based Beta Technologies is attending the airshow for the first time, with its Alia CX300 on prominent display next to the Gulfstream compound and also flying in the daily flight display.

“We’re all just here to show off,” Elixir Aircraft’s cofounder Cyril Champenois said. “At the end of the day, that’s what Paris is all about.”