Jet Expo United

Photo: Mark Kozhura

Finally things have changed. We won’t have to suffer traffic jams getting to and from the static display at Moscow’s Vnukovo-3. But after last year’s huge party who says it won’t become a vanity fair?

It’s definitely a good thing that exhibitors and aircraft of Russia’s first and only business aviation show will come together and offer visitors the entire package in one place. This is what everyone has been waiting for, especially taking into account the unpredictable drive to the static display and the outrageous helitaxi prices. All is looking good, but there might be a change in the event’s philosophy that not everybody will like.

I’d rather not go into speculations on costs and conveniences of the venue – nobody has yet told me whether the whole thing will be as expensive as the beer at the local bar or as comfortable as the occasional showcased Bentley that you come across inside Vnukovo-3. Static Display 2010 was a record-breaker with more aircraft than ever and the layout was comfortable, so these guys and the Jet Expo team know how to run an exhibition.

The whole point of my writing this, however, is that there seems to be a power shift on the market, and a much unexpected one for me. The huge party in honour of the Embraer Lineage that most of our readers probably saw was the first step to a very strange structure indeed. The whole thing with the flashing lights, rock bands, and vodka cocktails was a celebration of Vnukovo Group becoming the official sales representative of Embraer Executive Jets in Russia. The Group runs Vnukovo-3, has major figures in the Russian United Business Aviation Association, and owns a handling service, an aircraft operator, an MRO – and now also an aircraft dealership.

With all this, it’s highly likely that the rules of Jet Expo will change. Although the show itself was launched by Jet Transfer, a local charter broker, it always felt like an independent event, a platform for business aviation in Russia. This year there will probably be more grandeur and glamour, more media coverage, more buyers, but I doubt it will feel as independent as it had before. As long as they don’t buy any rum and cigar brands that will be forced upon us writers, I don’t really care.

As for you, I hope you like Embraer. You're getting a whole lot of it.