The International Bus and Coach Trade Fair, FIAA, presented at its virtual meeting with the 218 industry entrepreneurs and professionals who are registered for the event the news of its upcoming edition and the wide array of measures that IFEMA is implementing in order to ensure that the event is held with all the necessary safety and health guarantees. The Madrid trade fair institution is keeping the FIAA dates, from the 6 to 9 October at Feria de Madrid, as was explained by the IFEMA Director of Motor & Mobility, David Moneo, provided that the necessary health and industry conditions are met, as the event is held at the service of the industry. The participation figures recorded so far contribute to this, with 90% of the floorspace taken and 27% of foreign companies having confirmed participation, as pointed out by the event’s Commercial Director, Félix Pérez Fajardo. The President of the Trade Fair Organising Committee and of CONFEBUS, Rafael Barbadillo, highlighted that the sector is anxious to return to the Fair, as it has been three years since the last edition.
Moneo pointed out that “as we are aware of the delicate situation the industry is going through, we at FIAA wish to contribute towards the reactivation of the bus industry”. To this end all of the hygiene protocols are being implemented to ensure maximum safety for the professionals attending the Trade Fair, with measures such as access and capacity control, or temperature readings, among others. IFEMA also has AENOR to certify each of the events that are held at its facilities.
Within this setting, and always depending on the evolution of Covid-19 and on what the authorities determine, work is going ahead full steam towards holding FIAA in October. However, and if due to reasons of force majeure it cannot be held, the event has an alternative already planned. The final decision will be taken in early July.
It is precisely in July, on the 14 and 15, when SICUR Special Covid will be held, the first IFEMA Trade Fair that will take place in-person since the pandemic began (from the 1 July to the 30 September it will be online).
FIAA will offer companies who wish to participate all type of assistance to provide them with the maximum return on their investment (modular stands, flexibility for payments…). The event is also programming a busy schedule of professional conferences, Summit FIAA 2020, with the title “Buses, a view of the present and the future”, with the attendance of three ministries that are directly involved in the sector. The third edition of the prestigious Minibus of the Year award will be held, and an ambitious purchaser program and a busy promotional campaign are all being planned, among other initiatives.
The aim is to provide the best business setting possible, to help in the recovery of a sector that, as was acknowledged by the President of the FIAA Organising Committee and the employer association CONFEBUS, Rafael Barbadillo, is going through a difficult time, but “there is excitement because FIAA will be held again, after three years”.