ZHUKOVSKY, Moscow region, August 16 (Itar-Tass) —— President Dmitry Medvedev sent greetings to the participants and guests of the MAKS 2011 international aerospace show that opened in Zhukovsky near Moscow on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
“This years MAKS will once again present the best products of domestic and foreign design bureaus to the professional community and numerous visitors. Hopefully, the vast business program of the show will spur on the exchange of advanced experience, broaden international cooperation and promote domestic high-tech products on external markets,” the president said.
More than 800 companies and organizations from 40 states are taking part in MAKS 2011.
More than 200 aircraft will be displayed at MAKS, and over 100 of them will take part in show flights from the airfield of the Gromov Flight Research Institute. .
The Gromov Institute airfield has one of the longest runways in the world and the longest runway in Europe, 5,043 meters. The total area of the runway is 2.5 million square meters.
The runway was one of the possible landing spots for the Buran multi-use spacecraft. The airfield makes it possible to display piloting qualities of various types of aircraft.
MAKS 2011 will be one of the largest air shows in Europe and may draw up to 700,000 visitors, chairman of the show’s organizing committee, Moscow Regional Vice-Governor Pyotr Katsyv told Itar-Tass earlier.
A new road was built from Route M5 to the MAKS 2011 premises for increasing the transport accessibility of the show. “Shuttle buses will make trips at a one-minute interval, so visitors will feel comfortable even in peak hours,” he said.
For the first time in its ten-year history, MAKS 2011 presents show flights of up to ten WW2 aircraft, including I-15bis, I-153, I-16 and MiG-3 fighters, as well as two T-60 tanks, anti-aircraft weapons and a field kitchen of the war years.
The biggest commercial jetliner, Airbus A380, will be the main premiere of MAKS 2011, Katsyv said.
There will be performances of Russia’s four aerobatics teams and show flights of French, Italian and U.S. aircraft.
The total sum of contracts that may be signed at the MAKS 2011 international aerospace show in Zhukovsky may reach $3 billion, Russian Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said last Friday.
He said that would be both defense and civil orders, among them the orders for the new jetliner MS-21.
Aviasalon General Director Vladimir Borisov was more optimistic. He forecasted a total sum of MAKS 2011 contracts at more than $10 billion the day earlier.