NBAA Opens In Vegas
The (usually) annual business aviation convention is taking place in real life in Las Vegas.
After last year's Orlando, Florida, edition of the National Business Aviation Association's (NBAA) annual convention got nixed by the pandemic, everyone just assumed that the 2021 show, which was to take place in Las Vegas, would be a no-brainer. But they were wrong. With the rise of the Delta variant, there was much discussion about whether or how the event would be held. In the end, NBAA required attendees (including all exhibitors and presenters) to have proof of vaccination to gain admittance. Plane & Pilot previously incorrectly reported that proof of a negative Covid test was acceptable. According to NBAA, it is not.
NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen told NBAA TV that the "enthusiasm was palpable" and that he expected to see a lot of innovation, as exhibitors at this year's event are all about finding new ways to do business aviation. One of those ways that excites NBAA is the rapid rise in sustainable aviation fuels, so much so that the organization is offering flights to and from the static display at Henderson, Nevada, to the convention on the Strip in helicopters fueled with SAF, and all the planes fueling up in Henderson will be uploading SAF, as well.
There's also a new pavilion at Henderson that caters to single-pilot owner/operators of turbine aircraft, an outreach from NBAA that will come as a welcome new attitude of service toward not only pilots of single-pilot aircraft but to manufacturers of those aircraft, as well.
The event officially gets under way today (Tuesday). Look for updates here, including a few product announcements we can't share until the official start of the show.
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