The cold weather and the setbacks that occurred at the 17th edition of LABACE – Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition were not enough to take away the excitement and participation of the public that attended the traditional business fair promoted annually by ABAG (Brazilian Association of General Aviation) held at Congonhas Airport, in São Paulo, especially after a forced break in the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the three days of the fair (August 9th, 10th and 11th), exhibitors, guests and visitors packed the event, making this edition one of the ones with the largest number of visitors, where they could check out the main innovations in executive aviation and, of course, conduct a lot of business or display your products and services.
Aeroflap, as an official partner of LABACE 2022, was present for the three days of the event, where it was able to witness the strength and importance of the main trade fair and exhibition in Latin America.
In fact, an undertaking like this greatly favors several players in the segment, as it makes the location a true meeting point between companies and the active public of Brazilian aviation, which makes the space a point to meet companies from the most diverse segments, do business , visit the exhibited aircraft, take lots of pictures, and, of course, see friends and/or expand your network.
This atmosphere contributes a lot to the consolidation of the brands exhibited there and allows them to be increasingly present in the minds of those who make Brazilian (and international) general aviation work.
By the way, it is in the absence of participating in events like these and in the lack of publicity that we were able to get to know brands that have been around for years and we didn't even know what their field of activity really was. And it's for these and other reasons that exhibits like LABACE play a key role in general aviation.
As usual, the fair was divided between the traditional external area (where the aircraft and their respective representatives/manufacturers are) and two covered pavilions (removable sheds and a hangar of the extinct Avianca Brasil), where companies showed their products and services.
That year, we noticed a good diversity of small companies, which offered equally interesting services, unlike some previous years, where there was almost a monopoly of the giants of the aeronautical sector. This is excellent, as we already know the services of these large companies, making it convenient for us to be exposed to the services of startups.
However, we missed a specific ANAC stand with employees who could answer various regulatory questions, such as validation of qualifications, minimum requirements for obtaining licenses, appeals for infractions, etc. This stand could also contain information about the Simple Flight and, more recently, the new (and very important) Voe 135, which aims to facilitate obtaining certification for air taxi (RBAC135). The agency's stand could even have been set up, but few knew of its existence, and it was not even informed on the event's official website.
In these pavilions concentrated most of the public, especially towards the end of each day of the event, conveniently, at times when the rain fell or the wind increased.
By the way, it was such a windstorm that knocked down part of the Dassault stand on Wednesday 10th afternoon, where the facade fell on a Falcon 2000 LXS, slightly injuring some people who were in the place, being attended to promptly by the rescue teams of the event itself.
In addition to this façade, it was possible to see part of the zinc roof of the abandoned VASP building coming loose and threatening to fly towards the public. Faced with these facts, LABACE's organization decided to interrupt the activities of that day, ordering the huge crowd to leave the place through the small and insufficient main exit, which would serve as an escape route in case of emergency.
At that time, it was possible to clearly identify that it was past time for LABACE to move to another larger location or, at the very least, resolve the legal imbroglio involving Vasp's bankrupt estate to make better use of those facilities. Thinking about it, perhaps the first option is ideal, since it is totally paradoxical that the largest and most important general aviation fair in the country is headquartered in a coordinated airport, which is subtly “pushing” that same general aviation from there through questionable slots. The official explanation on the part of the aeronautical authorities is another, but for those who operate in Congonhas it is clear that this is happening.
As with any large event, adjustments will be necessary for the next editions of LABACE. One of them (and perhaps one of the ones that generated the most complaints) was the issue of bathrooms. Insufficient for the size of the public present, the toilets received a lot of criticism due to the queues that formed for their use, making many participants use the chemical toilets of the operational employees who worked in the setting up of the fair or resort to bars and bakeries in the surroundings.
Another point to consider next year is related to queues and time spent on accreditation. There were people who reported having lost up to fifty minutes just to pick up your credential to enter the event.
Once inside the exhibition, one felt the lack of employees or s spread throughout the place, informing where a certain company or activity would be located. Simple solutions like these would avoid unnecessary trips, saving time to generate more meetings or business.
These small details were not able to detract from the importance, brilliance, tradition and ultimate goal of LABACE 2022. The fair was – as always – a huge success, especially in this post-pandemic edition, which brought back to all participants that traditional agitation and expectation for the arrival of the day of the event. The large number of visitors and exhibitors proved this success, as many of those who attended returned for more than one day.
The 17th edition of the event promoted by ABAG proved to be an important showcase for hitherto “forgotten” General Aviation, which showed everyone – especially during the pandemic – its enormous strength and importance as a promoter of business and the provision of services to save lives, due to its capillarity and unique agility. And LABACE played the leading role in showing all this importance, consolidating itself as the largest general aviation business event in Latin America, and one of the largest and most important in the world.
Let LABACE 2023 come!
Below are some images of the aircraft exhibited at LABACE 2022:
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Micael Rocha was a flight instructor for four years, is a checker at aeroclubs and CIACs, has flown C525, C525B and C208B Caravan in air taxis and has been flying Cirrus SR22 since 2013.
@aeroereview
