The Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) is to stage a new trade show called Asian Business Aviation. The event has been launched in partnership with Reed Exhibitions and will be held in Hong Kong Sept. 8 to 10, 2009, as part of the larger Asian Aerospace show.

AsBAA has previously been in partnership with the U.S. National Business Aviation Association in running three editions of the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE). The fourth annual ABACE was to have been held in Hong Kong this past February 11 and 12; however, NBAA canceled this on December 23 in response to the economic downturn. At the time, NBAA indicated that it would be willing to organize future ABACE shows.

“The outlook for Asian business aviation continues to be promising,” said AsBAA chairman Chuck Woods. “The region’s population, economic activity and the need for executive transportation to cover distances between key locations is tremendous, and I believe the event will help promote industry collaboration and provide a sales opportunity for your clients.”

In response to Reed’s March 30 announcement of the new Asian Business Aviation show, NBAA made the following statement, which appears not to rule out plans for future ABACE events: “NBAA is not involved with the event recently announced by Reed Exhibitions and does not view it as a replacement or fill-in for the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) produced by NBAA and the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA). As we reported when we reluctantly canceled ABACE2009 because of conditions associated with the global economy, NBAA remains committed to business aviation in Asia, and we intend to resume production of ABACE as soon as market conditions allow.”