POST-FAIR REPORT AIRTEC 2023

Phone: +49(0)174 614 81 31 info@airtec.aero

B2B

Phone: +49(0)174 614 81 31 info@airtec.aero

AIRTEC 2023 – a precision landing! The international aerospace and future air mobility trade fair Airtec 2023 lands in Augsburg with great success.

After 18 years of Airtec, the successful trade fair premières at the Augsburg exhibition centre. Exhibitors and participants very satisfied – trade visitors from 31 nations. From 25 to 27 October 2023, 4,148 trade visitors from 31 nations came to the Augsburg exhibition grounds.

The number of visitors doubled on the first day of the trade fair compared to the previous year. It was a successful start to the trade fair. The number of international trade visitors doubled and there was a significant increase in B2B meetings and conference participants. The number of visitors on the second day of the trade fair exceeded that of the opening day by a further 30%, which can be considered a great success. Most of the trade visitors came from the fields of technology, programme management, purchasing, supply chain management and business development. And that with a large proportion of decision-makers. 86% of trade visitors travelled to Airtec 2023 from Germany, while 14% came from the rest of Europe and from all over the world.

The free shuttle service, which transported trade visitors from Munich International Airport to the exhibition centre in Augsburg and back, was very popular.

Diana Schnabel, Exhibition Director, commented: “Airtec 2023 at the Augsburg exhibition centre clearly exceeded our expectations with 4,148 trade visitors from 31 nations. It is increasingly developing into a future-oriented technology trade fair for aerospace and future air mobility. We are very satisfied with the result!”

The international conference, which took place at the same time, also met with great interest. All participants praised the high quality and outstanding innovative content of the presentations. The opening session of AIRTEC 2023 was marked by a keynote speech from the CEO of Premium Aerotec, Sebastian Peters. Tanja Neuland from Airbus Operations followed with insights into the topic of hydrogen technology. The other specialist presentations also met with strong interest and led seamlessly into the Future Air Mobility session, which was chaired by Mike Hirschberg, Strategic Director of the Vertical Flight Society from the USA, and Professor Florian Holzapfel, Head of the Chair of Unmanned Aerial Systems at the Technical University of Munich.

On the second day, the composite session chaired by Marc Fette, CEO of CTC in Stade, provided an in-depth update on the topic. At the same time, the session on additive manufacturing, chaired by Linus Tillmann (Mobility Goes Additive e.V.), attracted a highly skilled audience.

Professor Jens Eickhoff chaired the New Space session, which offered an exciting look at new space technologies. On the final day of the conference, Dr Simon Kothe from the Fraunhofer Aviation and Space Alliance chaired a session that reflected the consistently high level of interest in the topic among conference participants with a wide range of presentations from the aerospace supply chain.

Overall, all sessions were well attended, which underlines the importance of the topics and the quality of the AIRTEC 2023 conference programme.

The exhibitors at Airtec 2023 praised the high quality of the trade visitors and the personal commitment of the organisers, and the international participants were particularly impressed by the hospitality. It was repeatedly emphasised that Airtec 2023 is increasingly becoming an important international trade fair for high-tech in aerospace and future air mobility. It offers an ideal platform for networking, making targeted business contacts and tapping into new market opportunities. The new trade fair location of Augsburg, in the heart of a strong and expanding aviation region in Bavaria, also received a consistently positive response.

The exhibitors and trade visitors were very pleased that well-known OEMs from the aviation industry such as Premium Aerotec, MT Aerospace, Embraer, representatives from the Future Air Mobility sector such as Autoflight Europe and EHang as well as players from the New Space sector, namely Airbus Defence & Space and Rocket Factory Augsburg, were present at Airtec 2023. The all-important interplay between industry and research was also clearly expressed at this year’s Airtec, underlined by the participation of DLR and the Fraunhofer-Allianz AVIATION and SPACE as exhibitors.

The presence of around 500 students was a special reason for the exhibitors to be pleased – they were able to present themselves as exciting and pioneering employers with an extreme focus on the future at close quarters. A student initiative organised by the Free State of Bavaria offered young talents an insight into the world of innovation. The response to the joint initiative at the booth of the City of Augsburg and the Bavaria-Upper Swabia region, which attracted visitors with workshops, was consistently positive. The German Armed Forces were also present with a considerable number of trade visitors, underlining the diverse reach and interdisciplinary character of Airtec 2023.

The evening events at Airtec 2023, which took place in the magnificent Golden Hall of the City of Augsburg and in the traditional Riegele brewery, were highly praised by the numerous participants and were appreciated as highlights of the supporting programme.

The target for Airtec 2024 is clearly defined: 350 exhibitors from 25 nations. It is certain that Airtec 2024 will continue to establish itself as the leading international trade fair for aviation, future air mobility and new space. It is positioning itself as an innovation trade fair of outstanding technological importance that will have an impact on the entire industry far beyond its borders.

Testimonials 2023

»Airtec 2023 was a fantastic opportunity for the Future Air Mobility companies and suppliers to discuss about their products, progress and future development. We look forward to even more B2B connections at Airtec 2024!«

Mike HIRSCHBERG

Vertical Flight Society, Executive Director

»Strong interest on a broad scale. Many contacts with students, suppliers and more. Perfect platform for Rocket Factory to present itself with its label as a company. On my point of view New Space fits perfectly to aviation. Also complementary to the Automotive industry.«

Julia Ziegler

Rocket Factory Augsburg, HR Business Partner

»Airtec is a platform for networking in the aerospace sector and brings people together. We look forward to this excellent event next year. Many thanks to the great AIRTEC team around Diana Schnabel, to Composite United with Tjark von Reden and to Mobility goes Additive e.V. with Stefanie Brickwede for this opportunity! «

Marc Fette

Composite Technology Center / CTC GmbH (An Airbus Company), CEO

»Qualified contacts. Very good show. Well organized.«

Stefan Bornheimer

OPERATIONAL AVIATION SOLUTIONS, CEO

»As the leading international event in the field of future mobility, Airtec 2023 in Augsburg was an excellent platform for business, networking and knowledge exchange.«

Maik Kaminski

Airbus Protect

»Chapeau! The opening event of the AIRTEC trade fair series in Augsburg was a great success. Excellent mix out of conferences and partner meetings. As a local participant we appreciated the chance to be part of it. The development is coherent. It is growth but also moderate – the way it should be. A good place to follow-up existing and gain new precious relations.«

Andreas Müller

AutoFlight Europe GmbH, Senior Operations and Procurement Manager

»This has been a great event! from the exhibitor perspective from what I heard, as well as - and I can testimony for sure - from the high level conferences held in parallel on two stages, one mostly driven by the Vertical Flight Society with a great of set of panels (30 high level speakers) organised by Mike Hirschberg and a second stage on many up-to-date manufacturing processes as well as new Space or cybersecurity to just to give few examples...«

Frederic Malleret

AeroWestDevelopment, President

»The Airtec 2023 was a resounding success, benefiting both exhibitors and attendees. It featured a wide array of high-quality products and services, while providing an excellent platform for knowledge sharing and innovation. «

Nina Backes

MT Aerospace AG, Senior Communications Manager

»At Airtec 2023 good qualified contacts. In powder tooling. Airtec also ideal for smaller and medium companies to create new business opportunities. «

Jon Pardo Garate

Burdinberri S L, CEO

»At Airtec 2023 we had good contacts, we met the right people in aerospace and future air mobility for additive manufacturing. Looking forward to Airtec 2024.«

Linus Tillmann

Mobility Goes Additive e.V.

»Airtec 2023: Easy construction. Everything uncomplicated. Good business talks! Good presentations at the conference. Looking forward to next year, Airtec 2024!«

Niko Mau

MCD-Tools GmbH, CEO

»Qualified contacts. Very positive Feedback. Great attention to a new Start-Up in the Future Air Mobility Industry! Excellent presentations and the possibility for Odonata to present. Looking forward to Airtec 2024!«

John Griesbacher

and the ODONATA team

»Airtec 2023: The location of Bavaria, around Augsburg very relevant. The industry is here! Very good business talks! Looking forward to next Airtec 2024.«

Benjamin Staaks

SAERTEX, Key Account Manager

»This is the 3rd year in a row I’ve see AIRTEC grow and become a clear driver for networking around Munich. Big thank you to Diana Schnabel, Mike Hirschberg and the whole Airtec team for creating another successful and qualitative fair full of opportunities to network, including evening events. I'm looking forward to next year!«

Alain Sobry

Sol.one, Sales Manager

»For our first participation at AIRTECH, we appreciate your warm hospitality and the organization of this event. We wanted to take part in all the opportunities that airtec had to offer, and we don't have any regrets.«

Guillaume Carriere

ISP SYSTEM – ZI de la Herray, Export business manager

»All the cultural and business opportunities were excellent at Airtec 2023! Qualified contacts! A variety of treat presentations at the conference of Airtec 2023! Also on the topics of electronics! Warm ambiance of Airtec 2023! Thanks to the warm hospitality of the organizers of Airtec 2023, Diana Schnabel and her team. We have no regrets and took part in all opportunities that Airtec 2023 offered. Looking forward to Airtec 2024!«