Paris air show set to begin

Organizers of the Paris Air Show expect 300,000 visitors during the multi-day event that begins Monday. There will be 2,000 big and small exhibitors at Le Bourget, traditional home for the show. The event takes place on the eve of a restart of the competition pitting Boeing against Northrop Grumman and European teammate EADS to build tankers for the U.S. Air Force. EADS hopes to build the planes in Mobile, Ala., at the center of the Gulf Coast aerospace corridor. Also expected to be a big topic at the show is the emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles, a hot field still filled with small players. That’s a topic of high interest to South Mississippi, a build sites for Global Hawk and Fire Scout unmanned systems. Representatives from the Gulf Coast aerospace region plan to attend the show and hold a series of meetings with prospects they hope to lure to the Gulf Coast region. (Source: Tcp, 06/11/09)