The ILA Berlin International Airshow opened on Wednesday at Berlin ExpoCenter Airport in Schönefeld, bringing together more than 650 exhibitors and over 100 aircraft for Germany's largest aerospace and defence gathering. Trade visitors have the site to themselves through Friday, before the show opens to the public on Saturday and Sunday with its traditional flying displays.
The opening day's centrepiece was the inauguration of the show's Space Pavilion in Hall B, led by Dorothee Bär, Germany's federal minister for research, technology and space. She was joined by Dietmar Pilz, the European Space Agency's director of technology, engineering and quality, German space agency leadership from DLR, and the German ESA astronauts Matthias Maurer and Alexander Gerst.
ESA is presenting under the banner "Space4Future," with the pavilion organised into four thematic zones — exploration, climate monitoring, technology and operations, and autonomy and resilience — linked by a central Moon zone showcasing Europe's lunar ambitions, from Mars rovers to navigation and mission control.
The show's defence wing carries unusual weight this year. With European governments accelerating rearmament and Berlin pushing to anchor more of the continent's military-aerospace supply chain at home, the fighter, drone and air-defence displays at Schönefeld double as a procurement marketplace for buyers from across NATO.
ILA runs from June 10 to 14, open 10:00 to 18:00 daily. Organisers expect spectacular fly-pasts on the public weekend, with everything from passenger jets to fighter aircraft and rescue helicopters in the flying programme, and city officials are warning of heavy traffic around Schönefeld and the southern Brandenburg rail corridor throughout the week.