Aero show elitist, say disappointed enthusiasts

The Aero India 2023 has although been dubbed as a great success, it has left a bitter taste behind especially on the common visitors from Bangalore and its tier II cousins like Mangalore, Mysore and Belgaum. Some visitors whom Hans India spoke to have termed it as "elitist and grossly neglected common men and women" they have returned to their cities feeling down on Monday.

"I should have never gone there in the first place, I made the mistake of coaxing few of my friends there and they hold me responsible for their disappointment," said Nithin Hiremath of Belgaum a student of Aviation engineering in Pune. "the common visitors were treated like cattle, the security persons were herding us like cattle into a public viewing facility which was already overcrowded, we were stopped dozens of times on the way for flimsy reasons. We were not even allowed to go near the parked aircraft, it is the common people who need to have a closer look at the aircraft as they rarely come across them, but even that was denied at the show" Nithin said.

"I felt as if we were being huddled into a concentration camp, we got an impression that we were not wanted there, but why, various celebrities were taken to the aircraft with honour and escorted to the aircraft and shown around in detail, while we watched and waved at them. I felt so amused when the air force officers were made to escort VIPs who helped him climb a fighter jet, what do the aged potbellies know about aircraft and what will they learn from this experience? Instead, they should have taken some aviation engineering students on that aircraft and given them a chance to learn something" said Rohan Pai who is taking an aircraft maintenance course in Bangalore.

"I have nothing against the celebrities being treated well, they deserve that treatment for the dizzying heights they have achieved, but why the organizers did not choose at least a few common men and women to go up in the air in different aircraft depending upon their physical fitness? Don't tell me our students are not worthy of going near the aircraft. argued Anita Mascarenhas of Manipal who is a collector of scaled-down miniature planes and wish to do PG in avionics abroad.