Due to current developments in regard to the spread of coronavirus COVID-19, Messe Friedrichshafen is taking a serious but necessary step: the AERO Friedrichshafen aviation show will not be held over 1 to 4 April, 2020, but will be postponed to an as yet undetermined date.

“The current situation with the coronavirus has resulted in a nasty domino effect,” says managing director Klaus Wellmann. On Thursday, the same decision already had to be made for the Aqua-Fisch and IBO events. “The industry members of the general aviation community consider the health and economic risks of the upcoming trade fair to be too high. We share this assessment, but it is with a heavy heart that we now need to take this serious step together.”

AERO Friedrichshafen head Roland Bosch adds: “I have never experienced a comparable situation in the last 30 years. In accordance with the saying 'complete safety is an illusion; there are only varying degrees of risk and uncertainty', we were convinced right up until the end that we would be able to overcome the challenge we were facing from the coronavirus. Despite the uncertainties, we believed AERO Friedrichshafen 2020, with participation of around 700 registered exhibitors, would be able to be held. However, in recent days we received a very large number of cancellations and clear signals from our exhibitors and potential visitors, making it impossible to hold the event now. We will postpone the AERO Friedrichshafen 2020 to a date not yet determined.”

At the moment, other show cancellations include the EBAA AGM, ABACE in April, and the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Germany.