PARIS (AP) — Organizers have canceled the Paris Air Show scheduled for June 2021, citing persistent uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic.
The board of the Salon du Bourget air show announced the decision Monday, citing “the international health crisis and the large number of visitors that this popular show attracts.” It promised to refund any payments that exhibitors have already made.
Noting the pandemic’s “unprecedented impact" on the aviation industry, it expressed hope that the next Paris Air Show — scheduled for June 2023 — will “celebrate the resurgence the aerospace industry on an international scale.”
The Farnborough Air Show in the U.K. — which canceled this year's in-person edition — tweeted that the Paris decision “is incredibly disappointing. Paris represented a major step towards recovery; bringing the aerospace industry together once again.”
Air shows and other major global industry gatherings have been canceled around the world this year because of virus risks and restrictions on air travel.