CO2-free mobility of the future
Scholz opens aviation fair – first ILA since 2018
6/22/2022, 3:06 p.m
After a break in 2020 due to the pandemic, Chancellor Scholz opened the most important trade fair for the German aerospace industry. This time, the focus is particularly on military aviation. At the opening, however, Scholz describes an ecological turning point.
At the opening of the International Air Show ILA, Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized the importance of the industry for ecological and economic transformation. “The core issue is how we rebuild our economic model, which was based on burning coal, oil and natural gas for almost 200 years, in such a way that we secure the future of our planet,” said the SPD politician at the exhibition center in Schönefeld near Berlin in Brandenburg. “It’s good that your industry is doing everything it can to make Europe’s aviation sector carbon-neutral by 2050.”
Scholz speaks his words of welcome in front of an Airbus A350.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa)
On the one hand, this means converting production to climate-neutral processes. “On the other hand, new, profitable technologies and ideas for the CO2-free mobility of the future are needed.” Ground management, flight routes, materials, propulsion technologies – all of this must be redesigned.
After a Corona break in 2020, the ILA can again take place in person for the first time this year. 550 exhibitors from the aerospace industry present their innovations at BER Airport. Military aviation is more in the spotlight than in previous years. The armaments industry sees the opportunity to present itself as the “guarantor of our well-fortified industry”. She is also keeping an eye on Germany’s planned additional military spending of 100 billion euros. As always, the Bundeswehr is the largest individual exhibitor at the ILA.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are trade visitor days. On Saturday and Sunday, up to 15,000 private visitors can visit the exhibition center in the Selchow district of Schönefeld right next to Berlin-Brandenburg Airport (BER). Air shows will feature fighter jets and military helicopters, as well as the A380 double-decker passenger plane and the Airbus Beluga transporter.