Bahrain International Airshow and Farnborough International Limited (FIL) have signed an agreement to formalise their partnership to jointly organise the Bahrain International Airshow from January 19 to 21 in 2012.

The event is targeted at the aerospace industry, delivering access to high-level delegations and opportunities for on-the-spot customer demonstration flights.

A major highlight of the Bahrain International Airshow is the demonstration of unmanned aerial vehicles from Sakhir Airbase, the airshow’s purpose-built home, said Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, chairman of supreme organising committee for the show.

Captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud, undersecretary for CAA and vice chairman of the Supreme Organising Committee, was also present to sign a sponsorship agreement with Gulf Air as official carrier for the Airshow and a MoU with Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) as Ground Handling service provider.

Sheikh Abdulla said, 'Aside from Bahrain’s long and historic association with aviation, BIAS has continued to help forge even stronger links between Bahrain and a number of international aerospace organisations who, like so many other global businesses, see Bahrain as a natural gateway to the Gulf’s trillion-dollar market.'

'Bahrain’s own investment in aviation is growing rapidly; from aircraft to training and maintenance to airport infrastructure, the Kingdom continues to embrace the economic advantages of this rapidly growing sector and BIAS has a significant role to play in strengthening this focus,' he noted.

The inaugural Bahrain air show which took place in January this year, had attracted delegations from 25 countries with 94 aircraft on display and 40 participating companies. The show finished with deals worth around $1 billion signed and visitor numbers surging to 30,000.-TradeArabia News Service