No Russian MiG fighters. No US top guns. Few really new aircraft.
And a goodbye hug for the supersonic Concorde passenger jet, now a museum piece.
It was a subdued Paris Air Show that opened to the press Saturday with a visit from French President Jacques Chirac.
The world's leading aviation trade conference, first held in 1909, suffers this year from a slumping aviation industry and the US military's decision to keep top brass at home -- a move widely interpreted as retaliation for French opposition to the war in Iraq.
One leading theme this year is unmanned aerial vehicles, which got a public relations boost from successful use in combat by US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Regional jets also are a focus, and French engine maker Snecma and Russia's Sukhoi touted their plans to team up with Boeing on a new Russian regional jet, which would come in 60, 75, and 95-passenger versions. It's still on the drawing board.
But the Concorde provided the biggest spectacle Saturday, and Chirac watched as the sleek, swept-wing craft landed at Le Bourget airport. The planes have been taken out of service by Air France, and this particular Concorde was headed for the French Air and Space Museum at Le Bourget.
British Airways, the only other carrier with a supersonic fleet, will retire its Concordes in October.
With the plane grounded here for good, Air France crew members who have flown on Concordes climbed out on the wing to savor the distinctive-looking aircraft one last time and pose for goodbye snapshots. Many put on their uniforms for the occasion and lingered a bit.
"In this plane there was a special spirit," said Air France pilot Eric Celerier, 57. He flew the plane from Paris to New York 400 times as first officer.
"Anyone working on this plane was an enthusiast -- pilots, flight attendants, mechanics," he said.
The French president spent two hours in the exhibit halls, visiting European, Chinese and Russian stands. Chirac said he "very much favored" stronger cooperation between Europe and Russia and "in particular, between Russia and France."
Chirac did not mention the US or US businesses.
Exhibit space is down some 5 percent this year from the last show in 2001, and the number of planes on display fell to 206 from 226. Show organizers and most companies said the downturn in the airline business was the main reason.
The impact of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the SARS illness in Asia, and a slow economy that cuts demand for business and pleasure travel all have meant airlines order fewer new planes. The two leading passenger plane makers, Boeing and Airbus, exhibited new versions of existing aircraft.
Alan Mulally, the head of Boeing's commercial aircraft division, said airline finances were still strained and that a turnaround was more than a year away.
"There's a good chance we could have a recovery in deliveries by 2005," he said.
Boeing expects to deliver around 280 aircraft this year, and 275 to 300 next year. It delivered 381 last year and 527 in 2001.
However, the Pentagon's decision to bar top-ranking officers from coming also helped dampen things, as did the reduction in the number of US aircraft from 11 to 6, with none putting on flight demonstrations
Major US aerospace companies -- who are usually defense suppliers -- denied being pressured but sent fewer people and several big-name CEOs like Boeing's Phil Condit didn't come. Some companies have been cutting back their spending on air shows for several years, however.
In yet another blow, Russia's MiG and Sukhoi fighter jet designers kept their aircraft away, saying they feared they would be impounded by court action from a Swiss company, Noga. The company, which says the Russian government owes it more than US$60 million from business deals in the early 1990s, tried to seize Russian planes at the last air show.
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