The second edition of AERO South Africa 2022 took from 7 – 9 July at the Wonderboom National Airport in the City of Tshwane (Pretoria). The three-day event was hailed a massive success by exhibitors, claiming that the expense of the expo has been paid for many times over during the event.
The Expo covered the full spectrum of General Aviation products, technology and services with all the major suppliers taking advantage of the concentration of members of the South African aviation community.
The 2022 edition of Aero SA had slightly fewer exhibitors than the inaugural event held before the world was plunged into the Covid pandemic, in 2019 there were over 100 exhibitors this year the number dropped to 72 but in no way was the quality of the expo compromised. Visitor numbers were also down on the previous edition but this could almost be expected with the current economical climate. Exhibition space however increased from 4200m² in 2019 to 5106m² at this year's edition.
Informative workshops were held throughout the event with subjects reaching all aspects of general aviation. Admission to the workshop area was free and the talks were very well attended.
Aero SA introduced the B2B Matchmaking programme which proved highly successful with well over 100 B2B meetings confirmed during the three days of the expo. Business To Business matchmaking is a method to identify and connect (match) companies and people with common business interests, complementary services, expertise, technologies or business strengths. The goal was to create cooperative connections and realize business opportunities that mutually benefit both parties.
The Saturday Fly-in was rather disappointing with just over 25 aircraft flying in for the day. I guess this has a lot to do with the ever-increasing unreasonable fuel prices we have been forced to pay for the last few months.
Overall the 2022 edition of Aero SA was a great success and I’m sure it will continue to grow in the future. The City of Tshwane along with Messe Frankfurt South Africa has concluded a three-year partnership to host Aero South Africa at Wonderboom National Airport up to and including 2024, so Aero SA will be back next year, the date of the event has yet to be finalised.
