Paris Air Show: the unforgettable highs and lows from its 116-year history

One of the world’s most celebrated aviation events will unfold at the International Paris Air Show from June 16 to 22, 2025, bringing together industry stakeholders and aircraft enthusiasts for seven days of flight focused events and displays. 

Known locally as Salon International de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace, the revered spectacle will be the 55th edition of the air show, which is held every two years.  

Spread across 70 hectares at Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG) over 300,000 visitors will tread the hallowed ground with 2,500 exhibitors from 48 countries ready to greet air show guests.  

Representatives from the civil aviation, defense and space sectors will all be present with companies keen to show off their latest innovations and cutting-edge technologies. 

Among the Paris Air Show highlights this year is the Space Lab where institutions, SMEs, and startups will come together and the Air Lab exhibition where guests can take part in an immersive experience. 

Paris Air Show. Image: AeroTimeVisitors are also being encouraged to visit the National Air and Space Museum of France.  

The importance of the Paris Air Show (and its contemporaries in Dubai and Farnborough) to the aviation industry cannot be understated. These are the moments when new aircraft types are unveiled to the world for the first time, and billion-dollar contracts are finally signed off.  

The big stories from the Paris Air Show are yet to be revealed, with the all-important announcements no doubt going through their final rehearsals. 

With this in mind, AeroTime thought it was a good opportunity to reflect on moments from previous Paris Air Shows that have stood out since its inception way back in 1909.  

1909 – Inaugural Paris Air Show at Grand Palais 

Rather ironically, the Paris Air Show’s journey actually began at the Paris Motor Show in 1908, as a small additional segment to the cars being showcased. 

However, in 1909, against the backdrop of Louis Blériot becoming the first person to cross the English Channel in a plane, it was finally aviation’s time to shine. 

The first official, independent event was held at the Grand Palais in Paris between September 25 and October 17, 1909, with over 100,000 visitors estimated to have attended. 

While Grand Palais saw the first indoor exhibition, the first airshow, known as Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne, was held just a month before in Reims. 

1909 Paris Air Show.This is Tartarian / Old World Architecture. Absolutely beautiful! pic.twitter.com/Oft1kEpIae— Keith K (@My_TeslaModelS) December 7, 2023 Among the aircraft at the opening Paris Air Show were the Blériot XI, Voisin Biplane, Antoinette IV and the Wright Flyer.  

The event, designed to showcase mostly French early aviation technology and aircraft, was a resounding success and set the wheels in motion for the Paris Air Show to become the largest in the world. 

1949 – The first Paris Air Show after World War Two 

The 1949 Paris Air Show was a seminal moment as the first event held since World War Two when the exhibition was paused in 1938.  

While the Grand Palais remained the main focus in 1949, it was decided that flight displays should be held at Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LBG). The entire air show would eventually move to the airport in 1953. 

International aircraft manufacturers from the US, UK and Soviet Russia also joined the spectacle as countries looked to the future after years of fighting. 

Jet fighters including the de Havilland DH100 Vampire, Gloster Meteor and Dassault Oregan featured and wowed visitors with their futuristic capabilities. 

It was also the year that it was decided that the Paris Air Show would be held biennially, a now familiar pattern in the aviation industry calendar. 

1967 – Concorde unveiled to thousands  

Concorde 001 in 1968In arguably one of the greatest moments in Paris Air Show history, Concorde made its public debut in June 1969 in front of a 250,000 strong crowd.  

The French prototype Concorde 001 appeared before crowds first and was later joined by the British prototype Concorde 002, which flew over from UK for the occasion.  

Archive footage of the incredible scene showed the French Concorde 001 touch down momentarily before accelerating and taking off once again. 

Both aircraft appeared in the sky together, but while Concorde 001 eventually landed, Concorde 002 sped back to the UK. 

Although the media attention was at fever pitch, it would still be seven years before Concorde entered service in 1976.  

The iconic Boeing 747-100, known as the City of Everett and registered N7470, also made its debut appearance at the Paris Air Show in 1969.  

The Boeing 747, which was itself still in its test stage of its development, flew in from Seattle and arguably caused more of a stir among crowds than the two Concordes.  

Not to be outdone, NASA also displayed the Apollo 8 module at the air show in 1969, just one month before Apollo 11 landed on the moon.  

Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to enter lunar orbit, circumvent the Moon, and then return to Earth.  

1973 – Soviet Tu-144 crashes during a demonstration flight 

P.L THILL / Creative Commons The Paris Air Show has delighted crowds for more than 100 years but in 1973 the event turned into tragedy when a Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 crashed, killing all six crew members and eight people on the ground.  

The Tu-144 was the Soviet Union’s own supersonic passenger aircraft, and amid the backdrop of the Cold War there was intense rivalry with Concorde.  

On June 3, 1973, following the Concorde display, the Tu-144 took to the skies, piloted by Mikhail Kozlov, who was keen to show the world the aircraft’s capabilities. 

1/9 #OTD in 1973: Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash (France). On a demo flight, the 2nd production Tu-144 [CCCP-77102], a Soviet Supersonic Transport, breaks apart on a steep dive. All 6 aboard, 8 on the ground die. Cause: crew exceeded jet´s flight envelope, causing a structural… pic.twitter.com/uPvl3zZNqU— Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha (@OnDisasters) June 3, 2025 Following a low pass over the Paris runway, Kozlov fired up the aircraft’s four engines and initiated a steep climb. 

According to reports, at around 4,000 ft the supersonic jet dived but the pilot was unable to pull out and under the strain the left wing separated and there was an explosion. 

Theories about what caused the crash have been poured over since the incident. A joint investigation by French and Soviet investigation offered no real concrete explanations.  

1983 – Space Shuttle Enterprise visit

#image_titleThe star of the Paris Air Show in June 1983 was NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise which arrived in France aboard a modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier.  

Enterprise mounted on the back of the Boeing 747, towered above all the other aircraft on display, and even took part in demonstration flights (be it still attached to the 747). 

Un Concorde, un Space Shuttle Enterprise et un Boeing 747 sur la même image, lors du Paris Air Show (1983).(Photo via Museum of Flight) pic.twitter.com/ryaQwolh3C— Views (@viewsfrance) May 8, 2024 According to a UPI article written at the time, Space Shuttle Enterprise was on a tour of Europe with NASA hoping to drum up business for its satellite launching mission.  

First introduced on September 17, 1976, NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise was designed to undertake tests to prepare its sister ships for orbital flights. 

2005 – Airbus A380 introduction

rdesoras / flickr / Creative CommonsIn 2005, the largest commercial aircraft ever built made its public debut at the 46th Paris Air Show with thousands of people arriving to see the new double-decker jet.  

The Airbus A380, registered F-WWOW, had completed its maiden flight just two months earlier after development of the plane was first announced in 1990.  

At the air show more than a dozen aircraft were making their debut appearances, including the Dassault 7X and Embraer EMB-195, but the A380 overshadowed them all (quite literally).  

Thousands watched as the gravity defying A380 heaved itself off the runway to carry out a flight display for thousands of eager spectators.  

Two years later the extraordinary aircraft made its debut passenger flight but in 2021, 16 years after wowing crowds in Paris, production of the Airbus A380 drew to an untimely close.  

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