For more information about the Amsterdam Aviation Fair please visit their website at www.aviationfair.com

(Please see bottom of page for 17 minute full version of the above show video)
I had the opportunity to attend the 2019 Amsterdam Aviation Fair, this being their second annual airline collectibles show. The venue was the Van der Valk Hotel Schiphol A4, which is easily reached by the regular free hotel shuttle from the airport. The one day show is open to the public between 10 am and 5 pm, and this year the show featured an amazing 270+ tables with nearly 1500 people in attendance, with hard-core collectors and attendees coming from all over Europe, Turkey, Canada, the US and Japan.

In some 30 years of attending such shows, I can honestly say this was perhaps the best and biggest airline show I have ever attended. Certainly in the past 20 years. I overhead attendees saying “this show is like these shows were in the 1980s and 1990s” before the internet and online auction website caused the decline of such shows with much trader activity moving to online platforms like ebay. A lot of people missed the golden age of these shows, and it is so refreshing to attend a show like this in 2019 and to see such a high level of enthusiasm and excitement for airline collectibles.

Unlike the shows I have attended in the US post 2000, where most of the attendees are the show table holders, this was absolutely not the case at the 2019 Amsterdam Aviation Fair. I am not privy as to the foot traffic generated by US/Canadian shows, but it does not seem like they are able to generate this level of foot traffic in this day and age. Specially when North American shows are held at smaller cities that do not have a massive historical aviation/airline presence like Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.

The Amsterdam show has pretty much eclipsed every show on the planet except perhaps the US Airliners Inernational annual event. The reason for this could be the central location of Amsterdam and ease of reach by collectors all over the Europe. Another contributing factor in the show’s rapid success, has to be the massive floor space offered for the venue by the Van der Valk Hotel. It is not easy to find such a central and easily reachable hotel with such a large convention space to host upwards of 300 tables and 1500 attendees (including table holders).

It goes without says that the organizing committee for the Amsterdam Aviation Fair puts a lot of time and effort into planning and promoting their show, which happens on a year round basis. Without their amazing efforts this level if rapid success could not be achieved.

As with all shows, all sorts of airline collectibles imaginable are offered for sale at the show. But for travel agent model collectors the show for some reason attracts a massive selection of lovely models for sale, which you simply do not see at any other show at this level. So for that reason alone, I will make all efforts to attend this show in coming years.

For more information about the Amsterdam Aviation Fair please visit their website at www.aviationfair.com