Curtains down on Wings India 2022
Photo: Srinvias Setty
Hyderabad: The Asia's biggest Civil Aviation Show, Wings India 2022, organised jointly by the Civil Aviation Ministry, Government of India and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Indian Industry (FICCI) was concluded at the Begumpet Airport on Sunday evening.
However, many visitors who were eagerly waiting for the aviation show expressed their disappointment over the decrease in number of aerobatic shows. A few even alleged that though they had paid Rs 590 per ticket to gain entry, many of them were not allowed to enter the static display area.
As per the norm, the last two days of the aviation show was opened to the public. But this time, the visitors pointed out that only Team Sarang, the brand ambassador of the Indian Air Force, had displayed an eye-catching air show. Also many visitors were not allowed to enter the static aircraft displayed area as only persons who had static passes costing Rs 3,000 were only allowed.
Expressing his disappointment, M Ganeshan, a visitor said, "This is not even 10 per cent of what it used to be earlier. Though we paid Rs 590, we were not allowed to enter the static display area. This air show is really disappointing."
"There was no air show for the last two years due to Covid. This year, we have expected a good number of aerobatic shows. But there was nothing except the air show by Team Sarang. It was quite disheartening," said Y Anil, another visitor.
"Despite paying a fat amount for the ticket, double of what it used to be until a few years ago, the air show was a drab. Though Team Sarang was mesmerising, we did not buy the ticket just to watch a single show. Further, the exhibition area had nothing, and a few stalls were empty," said Abhinav Sakar, another visitor.
Meanwhile, the sources said that they had planned a single air show as the Covid threat was still on, and hoped for more air shows in the coming years.
The first two days of the show, March 24 and 25, were specially for business delegates and around 2,000 business delegates attended the event.