The Vegas Dispatch
APEX Attends NBAA-BACE
By Clayton Corn
President & CEO, Ross Nyerges, Client Relations Specialist, Amber Friesen, and Director of Sales & Acquisitions, Clayton Corn, all packed their bags and headed west for the 2023 edition of the National Business Aviation Association’s annual Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE). The worldwide gathering of business aviation professionals and organizations drew thousands to the Las Vegas Convention Center and to Henderson Executive Airport, where numerous aircraft, systems, software platforms, engines, and everything in between were on display. Against the backdrop of the Las Vegas Strip, the scene could be described as overwhelming for an admitted aviation geek like yours truly.
It’s hard to describe the scene to someone who’s never been, and the pictures accompanying this article don't do any justice to the event’s sheer scale. With over 1.5 million square feet of exhibit space at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and another million-plus square feet of outdoor ramp space at KHND, every imaginable business aviation product can be found, and keynotes from some of the business world’s most successful minds were presented daily. APEX’s trip was a bit truncated because of time constraints presented by business obligations back in Austin, but the two days we were in attendance were like drinking from a fire hose.
The overarching theme of the conference this year was a focus on sustainability. As the business aviation industry moves into the middle part of the 21st century, technologies such as autonomous electric aircraft, sustainable aviation fuels, and other emerging tech, all work to meet NBAA’s goal of lowering the emissions per seat-mile to net zero by 2050. Whatever your stance on sustainability is, it’s clear the NBAA and the aviation industry at large, much like the automotive industry, are putting a focus on fuel efficiency. alternative fuels, and all-electric mobility front-and-center.
“The game-changing advances delivering a sustainable future of airborne mobility were on vivid display, on both the show floor and in the air,” reports the NBAA Daily Insider. “For the first time ever, electric air taxis soared over the aircraft display at Henderson Executive Airport.”
A litany of other aircraft were also on display, including Textron Aviation’s Cessna Citation Longitude, the Honda Echelon, and Embraer Phenom 100EX, as well as the convention debuts of the Airbus ACJ220, and the Beechcraft Denali.
Over 800 exhibitors showcased concepts, including the unmanned aircraft systems and AAM vehicles in the Emerging Tech Pavilion from VoltAero, Wisk and others.
And lest I forget, I would be remiss to mention our great friends at Aviation Partners (API), who are the foremost provider of winglets the world over, who plied well the throngs of conventioneers with free beer. Thank you, Robert!
Our trip was truly an unforgettable experience. Friends were made, and our network expanded substantially by meeting in-person with industry leaders as well as colleagues in the South Texas Business Aviation Association. Though the trip was brief, it was a great learning and horizon-expanding experience, and I believe we made some great strides for APEX, Reata Jet, and you, our client.
Viva APEX! Viva NBAA! And Viva Las Vegas!