Three months before the exhibition some 610 exhibitors from 42 countries have booked their stand space. They will present a comprehensive range of equipment, technologies and services across all areas of the airport: solutions for aircraft, passenger and cargo handling; security; airport IT; architectural components as well as ground support equipment. A total of 11,900 visitors from 110 different countries visited the last show in 2013 to discover innovations in all these fields.

“With rising passenger numbers at airports around the world and a rapid development of new technologies it becomes more and more important for airport operators to upgrade existing airports; also new construction is an important subject, for example of modern terminals and additional runways”, says Nicola Hamann, Managing Director of the organisers, Mack Brooks Exhibitions. “This is crucial in order to increase capacities and reduce waiting times. Airports of all sizes and in every country are affected since they were developed and built, partly decades ago, for a considerably lower number of passengers and with a different state of the art”, explains Nicola Hamann.

At present, priority is given to development projects which cover the whole airport, ranging from building runways and terminal buildings, their refurbishment, to upgrades of security and baggage handling systems. Likewise, the optimisation of passenger handling is a key topic; it includes that passengers should be able to check-in their luggage as early and easily as possible and proceed to the security check area. Furthermore, the ways of passengers during their stay at the airport are being planned more efficiently and consequently are being reduced. Also new construction and upgrade of cargo terminals is gaining more importance as well as the coherent upgrading of technologies to optimise and speed up cargo handling.

“The Smart Airport concept is the current trend in the industry, including intelligent passenger guidance systems, user friendly self-check-in counters and timesaving security checks. Due to globalisation and rising mobility of air travellers, airport operators worldwide are in direct competition. High international standards in the areas of security, service and design have been established; airports cannot afford to avoid these any longer”, states Nicola Hamann.

“With this background knowledge many exhibitors at inter airport Europe have again booked more stand space this year in order to present an even wider selection of equipment, products and services for the airport of the future. Consequently, visitors can expect the largest variety of equipment and technologies to achieve their ambitious planning projects”, concludes Nicola Hamann.