Paris Air Show at Le Bourget: trade show, flying display and public days

Once every two years, a business jet airport in the north of Paris turns into the largest showcase of aerospace. At the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, airlines sign multibillion-dollar orders, manufacturers show prototypes with test registrations, and every afternoon airliners, fighter jets and helicopters fly their demonstrations over the field. For plane spotters the show is a special case: you hardly ever see so many new, rare and freshly painted aircraft in one place. This guide explains how the show is organized, when you can get in as a member of the public and how to plan the day as a spotter.

Paris Air Show: the short answer

The Paris Air Show, officially the Salon international de l’aéronautique et de l’espace, takes place in odd years in June at Paris-Le Bourget Airport. It is organized by SIAE, which is closely tied to the French aerospace industries association GIFAS. The show lasts a week: the first days are reserved for trade visitors, and on the last days everyone may enter. Every day ends with a flying display. The next edition is scheduled for June 14 to 20, 2027.

Measured by exhibitors and exhibition space, the Paris Air Show is considered the largest aviation trade show in the world. For the 2025 edition, the organizer gives the following key figures:

From 1909 to today: a short history

The Paris Air Show is older than almost any airline. Its roots lie in the Paris Motor Show, where a section for aircraft had already been set up in 1908. A year later, in 1909, came the first standalone aviation exhibition at the Grand Palais – with around 380 exhibitors and about 100,000 visitors. There was of course no flying there; the aircraft stood under the glass roof of the exhibition palace.

From 1924 the show ran on a two-year cycle, interrupted by the two world wars. Since 1949 it has been firmly anchored in odd years. Flight demonstrations took place from 1949 at first in Orly, and in 1953 the entire show moved to Le Bourget – the field where Charles Lindbergh had landed in 1927 after his Atlantic flight and which was then still a scheduled-service airport. Since then, halls, open grounds and flight demonstrations have shared a site in the south of the airport, right next to today’s Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace.

Year	What happened
1909	First aviation exhibition at the Grand Palais, around 380 exhibitors
1953	Move to Le Bourget, halls and flying display in one place
1973	Crash of the Tupolev Tu-144 during its demonstration, 14 dead
2005	First show appearance of the Airbus A380
2021	Edition canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic
2023	Return after the break, record order from IndiGo at Airbus
2025	55th edition from June 16 to 22
2027	Next edition from June 14 to 20

The show’s darkest hour was June 3, 1973. During its demonstration, the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 broke apart in the air and crashed onto the town of Goussainville. The six crew members and eight people on the ground died. The accident had a lasting influence on safety rules for flight demonstrations – more on the aircraft itself in the post on the Tu-144. Later crashes of a MiG-29 in 1989 and a Su-30 in 1999 ended without fatalities.

Trade days and public days: when you can get in

The show is first of all an industry meeting. On the trade days at the start of the week, airlines, leasing companies and armed forces negotiate with manufacturers and suppliers, delegations from all over the world arrive, and the big orders are announced at press conferences. Only accredited trade visitors and press are admitted then.

At the end of the week the show opens to the general public. In 2023 the first four days belonged to trade visitors, the last three – Friday to Sunday – to all visitors. 2025 went exactly the same way: trade days from June 16 to 19, then public days. If 2027 follows the same pattern, the public days would be June 18, 19 and 20. That is a deduction from previous years, not an announcement – check the show’s official website before you book train and hotel.

What does that mean for you? On public days it is noticeably more crowded than on trade days, but the mood is more relaxed. Families, photographers and aviation fans shape the picture, there are activities for kids around the show’s mascot Aleo, and the flying display becomes the main event of the day.

What you see on the grounds

The show grounds are roughly divided into three areas: halls and pavilions with the booths of manufacturers, suppliers and country pavilions, the open grounds with the static display on the apron, and the runway with the flying display. On top of that come the big companies’ chalets along the demonstration line, which serve as negotiating rooms mainly on the trade days.

The static display typically has current airliners from the big manufacturers, often in house livery or in the colors of a customer airline. Airbus, as a manufacturer with home advantage, is traditionally strongly represented, and Dassault Aviation shows Falcon business jets and the Rafale. You’ll also find helicopters, trainers, transports, drones and space exhibits. Many show aircraft carry French F-W test registrations, which you otherwise only see in Toulouse.

Each edition sets its own emphases. In 2005 the Airbus A380 made its first show appearance, in 2011 the Chinese manufacturer COMAC was represented for the first time, and in 2013 Embraer launched its E2 family at the show – how to tell the generations apart is covered in the post telling Embraer E-Jets apart. In 2025, defense, drones and decarbonization were the focus; Airbus Helicopters showed its RACER high-speed demonstrator, and the freighter version A350F was a topic around the show. Which aircraft come in 2027 is settled only shortly before the show.

The flying display

Every show day ends with flight demonstrations. Unlike classic airshows such as Duxford, it is less about warbirds and aerobatics than about current technology: airliners show climbs, tight turns and low fly-bys, fighter jets fly their performance routines, helicopters and tiltrotors demonstrate their maneuverability. The French aerobatic team Patrouille de France took part in some editions, for example in 2009 after a long break.

How long the program lasts and in what order the flying happens is published by the organizer at the time of the show. So don’t plan around a specific type: demonstrations get canceled or postponed because of weather, technical problems or short-notice withdrawals. If you want to see a particular aircraft, it’s best to come on several days or also look for it in the static display.

Getting there and how the public day works

Le Bourget lies about eleven kilometers north-northeast of Paris. The obvious way to get there is the RER B to Le Bourget station and from there the bus on to the grounds. In normal operation, bus line 152 among others stops at the museum. Whether there are additional shuttles for the show is posted on the official website before each edition. The planned station of Grand Paris Express metro line 17 at the airport is unlikely to help you in 2027: its opening has been postponed several times, most recently to fall 2028.

By car, the A1 leads to the airport. On public days you must expect traffic jams on the access roads and limited parking. Train and bus are usually the less stressful choice.

Photography at the Paris Air Show

For the static display a standard zoom is enough, often even a wide-angle – the aircraft stand close, but space is tight. For the flying display you need a telephoto lens; a zoom up to 400 or 500 millimeters covers airliner demonstrations and fighter jets well. For propeller aircraft and helicopters, choose slower shutter speeds so that propellers and rotors don’t look frozen. You’ll find a compact list of what belongs in your bag in the airshow checklist, and gear and settings in the post photographing airshows.

The real challenge in the static display is the people. Barriers, visitors in front of the landing gear and airstairs at the door make clean side views hard. Three things help: arrive right at opening, use reflections on the apron on rainy days and concentrate on details – engines, winglets, liveries, test registrations.

A word on the rules: on the show grounds you photograph as a visitor quite normally. Outside the grounds, French regulations around airports apply, which are stricter than in many neighboring countries. What is allowed is explained in the post photography at French airports. Drones have no business around the airport anyway.

Paris Air Show compared

Le Bourget shares the role of leading world show with Farnborough in England. The two shows alternate: Paris in odd years, Farnborough in even years. Then there are the ILA in Berlin and the Dubai Airshow as big industry shows with a flying display.

Criterion	Paris Air Show	Farnborough	ILA Berlin
Cycle	odd years, June	even years, July	even years
Venue	Paris-Le Bourget Airport	Farnborough Airport	BER Airport
Profile	world’s largest aviation trade show, strongly civil and military	industry show with a large share of orders	focus on Europe, defense and space
For spotters	prototypes, F-W registrations, museum right at the grounds	British setting, business jet airport	easy to combine with spotting at BER

You’ll find an overview of more dates, from military airshows to spotter days, in the overview airshows in Europe for plane spotters.

Le Bourget outside the show and the detour to CDG

Even when there is no show on, Le Bourget is worth a visit. The Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace in the 1937 Art Deco terminal shows two Concordes, a walk-through Boeing 747 and the A380 with the test registration F-WWDD. From the terraces you see the airport’s ongoing traffic – almost exclusively business aircraft, because there have been no scheduled flights here since the early 1980s. How to tell Falcon, Gulfstream and Global apart is covered in the post telling business jet types apart.

If you’re in Paris anyway, combine the show visit with a day at Charles de Gaulle Airport, which lies just a few kilometers to the northeast. There you see the scheduled traffic that Le Bourget no longer has. The best locations are in the guide plane spotting at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

Conclusion

The Paris Air Show is more than a trade show: since 1909 it has been the stage on which the aviation industry shows what it can do, and since 1953 it has been firmly tied to Le Bourget. As a member of the public you get in at the end of the week, get the same flying display as the industry and a static display with aircraft you otherwise only see in Toulouse or Seattle. If you come early, split the day between the display and the flying program and bring a telephoto, you take home a haul that no ordinary spotting day can match. The next opportunity is in June 2027.