Dear Senator Günthner, 

Dear Mr. Gröning, 

Dear guests,

It is a great pleasure for me to be here to experience the world’s greatest air show and I would like to extend a warm welcome to all exhibitors on the stand shared by Hamburg and Bremen and to all guests at this senate reception. 

Since the Wright Brothers’ first double-decker glider in 1899, the aviation industry has evolved into one of the global economy’s drivers of growth and the world’s continents have never been closer together. 

Today, Hamburg is the centre of Germany’s civil aviation industry and next to Toulouse is the most important in Europe. On a global scale, Hamburg meaning the metropolitan region and its North German neighbours ranks number three in the civil aviation industry. 

The aviation industry is, however, also a pioneer of innovative materials and processes, giving it a key role in Germany’s future as a high-tech location. 

Airbus has enjoyed great successes with the development of its aircraft family, impressively reaffirmed just this Friday with the maiden flight of the Airbus 350. The 7,000 plus workforce at Airbus had all been waiting for this historic day with bated breath, and were able watch it live at the works grounds in Hamburg Finkenwerder on big screens.

Mind you, the success of our location as a centre of aviation is due to many more: Lufthansa Technik is for example a world leader in MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), not forgetting the input of several hundred small and medium-sized suppliers or the associated teaching and research organisations. 

They all work on innovations for the aircraft and the air transportation systems of tomorrow, and are robust pillars of the aviation industry as well as the guarantors of our future growth. Some are here in Paris, competing against the international competition with quality products and services. The world class that "Made in Germany" stands for is seldom more clearly demonstrated than by you, the exhibitors here at Le Bourget. 

The Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg supports the aviation industry wherever possible, in particular by creating a suitable environment:

• with our own aerospace research programme,
• by promoting the "Hamburg Aviation" cluster
• and by investing in infrastructure. 

One example of this is the "Centre for Applied Aviation Research," where the ground-breaking ceremony for the new TechCenter was celebrated on the 13th of June. It will soon be home to partnerships generating innovations. 

Another example is the Hamburg Centre of Aviation Training a unique European place of learning: It is an inter-campus cooperation between the aviation industry, the university and the vocational college and one of the outstanding links in the educational chain for aeronautical professions in Hamburg. It allows stakeholders to work together efficiently in networked and interdisciplinary structures across educational, vocational, academic and training domains with high degrees of synergy. 

Our networked approach is also reflected on this stand, with Hamburg and Bremen as north German partners, repeating the experience gained previously at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin. This cooperation will be continued in the future. 

Internationally, we are also well placed thanks to cooperation with our long-standing partners from "Aerospace Valley" and "Pole Pegase" as well as with other European partners in the European Aerospace Cluster Partnership (EACP), the work of which we support via the Hamburg office. I know that some of the 31 members from 13 countries are guests here today. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Economics and politics can present themselves here in all confidence. May I wish you many new contacts and interesting talks and all of us an exciting air show. 

Merci bien!