I’ve spent the past week at the Farnborough airshow, where there are a ton of aviation suppliers decked out in their chalets. My interest was piqued when I saw the only airline chalet at the show – Qatar Airways’. Yes, it does well for brand awareness. But Qatar Airways already has a Boeing 777-300 on static display at the show. Hence, I got thinking why would Qatar Airways invest in a chalet at Farnborough? Here are some possible reasons I came up with.

1. To get all manufacturers coming to Qatar Airways’ chalet, than the QR executives going to the manufacturers
2. Increase brand awareness among suppliers
3. Invite the media to the chalet to share stories about the airline
4. Mr Al Bakar wanted one

For all the above reasons, I keep coming up with respective counter arguments..

1. Any suppliers trying to sell planes or services to QR would already have done their homework and go to Mr al Bakar anyway, hence negating the need for driving brand awareness among suppliers
2. The media is just as happy at press conferences as well as on-board the plane on static display,

So then why would Qatar Airways, or any other airline have a chalet at an Airshow? And how is the ROI from such an investment determined? I’m puzzled, and would love some answers. Let’s discuss on Twitter (@simpliFlying) and in comments.

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