Photo Gallery: The Aircraft of Paris 2019

Such is the pace of product development that two Airbus models that had not yet flown when the Paris Air Show was last held in June 2017 are making their debut this year and are already in the hands of their first customers. An A321LR operated by French all-business airline La Compagnie (pictured) will be on display, while the A330neo will be flying daily. The A330-900 entered service with TAP Air Portugal in December and certification of the A330-800 is imminent. The A380 will make a bitterweet appearance, as part of the Airbus flying display on public days, at its last Paris before production ends in 2021.

The Vahana electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing demonstrator built by Airbus’ Silicon Valley outpost A³ will make its global public debut at Paris. The second demonstrator, Alpha Two, will be on static display. With eight electric propellers on tilting tandem wings, the single-seat Vahana is flying in Oregon, where the Alpha One demonstrator has achieved full transition between vertical and forward flight.

Paris is an opportunity for many smaller companies to present their products on a global stage, and Asman Technology will display the ARLA 600, a low-cost surveillance aircraft based on the Savannah S ultralight.

New Toulouse-based aircraft manufacturer Aura Aero is debuting a range of two-seat aerobatic aircraft, the Integral S and Integral R, billed as “100% French and environmentally conscious.” The aircraft are aimed at the civil and military training and recreational markets. Deliveries are planned to begin in 2020.

The Boeing KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tanker will make its international air show debut at Paris as part of the Defense Department static display. In addition to the 767-based KC-46A (pictured), now making its delayed entry into service with the U.S. Air Force, the corral will include a pair of Lockheed Martin F-35s, a Boeing P-8A Poseidon and other U.S. military types returning to Paris.

The Passenger Air Vehicle (PAV), a two-seat electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft designed by Boeing company Aurora Flight Sciences, will make its public debut at Paris. A full-scale test vehicle will be displayed in Boeing’s pavilion alongside a scale model of the unmanned Cargo Air Vehicle. The PAV (pictured) made its unmanned first flight in January.

The latest in the continuing evolution of Daher’s single-turboprop business aircraft, the TBM 940, will make its Paris debut. Enhancements to the high-speed turboprop include an autothrottle, automatic deicing system and cabin upgrades. The TBM 940 received European certification in May.

As Embraer prepares to transfer its commercial-aircraft business to a Boeing-controlled joint venture, the Brazilian manufacturer’s Praetor 600 super midsize business jet will make its Paris debut. Unveiled in October 2018, and certificated in May, the Praetor 600 is an upgrade of the clean-sheet, fly-by-wire Legacy 500, with increased range and other improvements.

Israeli startup Eviation will debut the prototype of the Alice nine-seat, electrically powered commuter aircraft at Paris. The prototype was assembled in Vannes, in northwest France. Designed to fly up to 565 nm at 240 kt., the battery-powered, composite-airframe Alice has three propellers mounted on the tail and wing tips. Eviation has selected both MagniX and Siemens as suppliers of electric motors. First flight is expected this year.

Gulfstream is on the brink of certifying the G600 as it brings its latest large-cabin, long-range business jet to Paris for the first time. The sister G500 made its Paris debut in 2017 and is now certified and in service. Deliveries of the longer G600 are set to begin in the second half of the year.

As Japan mounts a sales offensive for its latest military aircraft, Kawasaki’s C-2 airlifter has been seen before, at the Dubai Airshow in 2017, Royal International Air Tattoo in 2018 and Australian International Airshow earlier this year. But this is its Paris debut, and the twinjet transport will be on display alongside Japan’s Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft, which made its global debut there in 2017.

With Turkey facing being ousted from the F-35 program unless is backs down from plans to buy Russia’s S-400 air defense system, Turkish Aerospace’s (TUSAS) plan to display a mockup of the TF indigenous fifth-generation fighter takes on increased significance. First flight of the prototype is now planned for 2026. TUSAS will also display a mockup of the Hurjet advanced trainer, which is planned to fly by 2021, and the Gokbey medium twin helicopter.