EBACE 2023: blue sky thinking

The end of May is a special time for the business aviation industry. The annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) that takes place in Geneva, Switzerland is a melting pot for everyone involved in all aspects of the industry to network, present their products and discuss upcoming trends. The event was much busier than previous year, with a greater amount of planes presented and more industry experts involved.

This year, our team represented by Head of Sales, Vlada Lushnikova and Head of B2B Sales and Business Development, Irakli Mikeladze attended the convention and following our yearly tradition we bring you our summary of the event.

Lead by example: Sustainability

It is no surprise that sustainability in the business aviation is the hottest topic in industry’s agenda. Being the very representation of all things business aviation, EBACE 2023 organised a Sustainability Summit where industry experts discusses technologies that enable a zero-carbon future for the sector. On top of that, there were plenty of initiatives in the event handling that made it more sustainable like recycling of waste, minimal plastic in the venue, reusable water bottles, shuttle buses etc.

It’s not what you know by who you know: Networking

With our brand awareness growing each year, Mirai Flights found EBACE 2023 particularly useful in terms of business partnerships and networking. Having established itself as a successful product, Mirai team chose mobility over a stand and managed to secure new partners and meet our existing business associates like Sky legs, Fl3XX, LEON, Vall Jet, DC aviation, Union Aviation and PanAviatic. We also visited an impressive Sparfell stand and discussed potential integration into Mirai Flights.

While industry exhibitions are great for brand explosion, the greatest measurement of their benefit to the participants is the outcome of networking opportunities. The question is did you break a leg or did you break the bank?

For Mirai Flights team it was most definitely a success. We are excited to have partnered with two new operators to Mirai Flights post EBACE 2023: the family owned Swiss, DALaviation, and European business charter operator providing ad-hoc charter flights, Platoon Aviation. The contracts are signed and integrated in our Mirai app and Windrose is in the final stage of contract completion. We are pleased to expand our operators' portfolio.

Who runs the world: Girls

We were pleased to see a dedicated stand that celebrated women in the business aviation. For the industry that remain predominantly male dominated, it is important to recognise the impact women have in all positions from leading business positions to technical expertise.

**What the new season brings: Future trends **

2023 is a testing year for the business aviation industry. On one hand, the sector is under great pressure to deliver carbon-neutral initiatives and minimise its impact on the environment. On the other, it experiences one of the heaviest flying season post-pandemic, with all restrictions being lifted world-wide. There was an increased buzz amongst attendees discussing whether the social demand for zero-carbon emissions will outweigh the overall anticipation for traveling that everyone stored during the restrictions' period. Will the industry see its full pre-pandemic golden hour, or will it be challenged by the ongoing agenda? Only time will tell…