August 26, Zhukovsky, Moscow Region. The 8th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2007 was held from August 21 to August 26, 2007 at the premises of the Gromov Flight Research Institute, a federal state unitary enterprise.

   MAKS-2007 was officially opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrived at the opening ceremony in the Mi-8. In his opening speech before the guests Vladimir Putin put a particular stress on the increasing interest to MAKS. “MAKS is not just one of the many airshows, it has become one of the world’s leading aviation and space salons. MAKS-2007 has set a new standard for the organization of such events and one of its central parts was its well thought out program, its science conferences, expert meetings and seminars. One of major innovations at this exhibition was an active participation of scientists, designers and engineers as well as discussions concerning the development of aviation and space flights”, the president said.

   MAKS-2007 gathered 787 companies among them 540 Russian and 247 foreign ones. The participants from 39 countries of the world demonstrated their newest and most advanced technologies and products.

During its work MAKS-2007 welcomed over 500,000 visitors. Within first days of its work 155,000 experts took part in the exhibition.

   MAKS-2007 was visited by 4,000 journalists; about 500 of them came from abroad. The number of accredited Russian publishing companies was 700 and 250 more arrived from other countries. 40 foreign and over 100 Russian TV crews came to give coverage to MAKS-2007.

   The ground exhibition featured over 260 aircrafts of different types; most of them were built in Russia. The foreign participants demonstrated about 30 aircrafts, including military airplanes shown in the US Air Force exhibition, such as the B-52 bomber and the French Mirages. An individual demonstration area was given to trainer aircrafts of Patrouille de France.

   The exhibition of aerospace technologies was substantially bigger and was held in pavilions with a total area of 33,350 sq.m. The exhibits in them were thematically grouped. The number of business chalet for negotiations has also grown and reached 74.

   MAKS-2007 had a truly unique airshow program. In only 6 days there were 200 demonstration flights. MAKS visitors could observe 35 different types of aircrafts: fighters, trainer aircrafts, helicopters, bombers and transport airplanes.

   MAKS-2007 had a joint exhibition of the United Aircraft Building Corporation (UABC). At MAKS the UABC and “Ukraine’s Aviation” signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of civil and transport aircrafts. The UABC also signed an agreement with Alcoa, which will provide it with advanced materials, new functional concepts and production technologies for the design and production of new generation civil aircrafts. The Federal Air Traffic Agency and the UABC also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of aviation staff training.

   Ilyushin Finance Co. signed a contract on the shipment of six Tupolev Tu-204-100, a financial leasing contract on the shipment of six Antonov An-148s with an option of six more aircrafts, and a Memorandum of Understanding on the acquisition of the Ilyushin Il-96-300. The total cost of the transaction is estimated at about $500,000.

   IFC also signed a series of contracts with foreign companies, for example with Iran Air Tour it signed a contract on the delivery of five Tupolev Tu-204-100s with a total cost of $200m, with the Cuban Aviaimport S.A a memorandum worth $150 on the delivery of two Tupolev Tu-204s and three Antonov An-148s for Cubana de Aviacion. Finally IFC signed contracts with aircraft builing companies, for example a contract with the Voronezh Aircraft Building Enterprise on the acquisition of thirty-four Antonov An-148s, with the Perm’ Engine Building Company on the delivery of twenty-seven of PS-90A1 and PS-90A2 engines and with OAO Motor Sich concerning the acquisition of seventy-four D-436-148 engines and 34 auxiliary power units.

   OAO Atlant-Soyuz and OAO Ilyushin Finance Co. signed an act of delivery and acceptance on the Ilyushin Il-96-400T, the first of the five aircrafts which OAO Ilyushin Finance Co. will deliver to the company.

   Atlant-Soyuz and Boeing announced the order on four Boeing 737-700s Next Generation. Moreover in the frames regional air routes development project Atlant-Soyuz intends to buy twelve 30-seat Embraer-120s.

   For the first time at MAKS-2007 Oboronprom had a united demonstration stand.

   ZAO Sukhoi Civil Aviation and the Italian Alenia Aeronautica signed an agreement on the establishment of a joint venture company SuperJet International which will be responsible for marketing and after-sale service of the Sukhoi SuperJet-100 aircrafts. Sukhoi Civil Aviation and Ural Airlines signed a Memorandum of Intent on the acquisition of five Sukoi SuperJet-100s.

   Volga-Dnepr Group, OAO Motor Sich and ANTK Antonov signed an agreement on the series production renewal and modernization of the Antonov An-124-100M-150.

   Rosoboronexport, a federal state unitary enterprise, signed a protocol, according to which Indonesia will receive three Sukhoi Su-27SKM and three Sukhoi Su-30MK2. The cost of the    transaction is estimated at $330m. A protocol on the cooperation in the field of military technology was signed with Chili.

   RSK MiG, a Russian aircraft-building corporation, signed a series of agreements with India, Poland and Kazakhstan, concerning the maintenance of MiG fighters used by air forces of these counties.

   VSMPO-Avisma Corporation and Boeing signed an agreement on the establishment of a joint enterprise on the processing of titanium parts.

   The total cost of transactions made at MAKS-2007 is being calculated, but according to the preliminary results it is estimated at over $3b.

   After a long break MAKS-2007 revived a tradition of organizing science conferences, symposiums and round tables. A total of 10 events have been held.

   Moreover MAKS-2007 hosted Grand Prix FAI with 9 competing pilots making 27 demonstration flights.

   MAKS-2007 also had an outstanding children’s program, which consisted of the Moscow Open Youth Art Festival F2 – “Ot Vinta!” project, “Maksyata”, an event for the youngest visitors of the airshow, and many other projects.

   MAKS-2007 also featured an exhibition named “University Science and Youth Art dedicated to aviation technology”.