FIAA 2024 was attended by 11 thousand professionals

A total of 11,045 professional visitors - 57% up on the last edition in 2022, and up around 80% in terms of international visitors - attended the fifteenth edition of the International Bus and Coach Trade Fair, FIAA 2024. A total of 100 manufacturers of full vehicles and chassis and coaches and companies specialising in technology, safety and auxiliary industry took part. This is the excellent upshot of an edition that is especially relevant for projecting the recovery of a strategic sector such as road passenger transport, and which presented the latest solutions and proposals of the sector from 22 to 25 October, showing its high capacity for innovation. The event confirmed its status as the best Fair in this segment in southern Europe thanks to the strong institutional support, at all levels, and the renewed backing of all the sectoral associations involved. It is worth pointing out that more than 400 professionals attended on the eve of the inauguration, on the 21st, on the occasion of the great FIAA 2024 Gala.

FIAA is becoming increasingly international. This is borne out by the fact that 16% of total visitors at this last edition were foreigners, up 80% on 2022 and there was an increase in the number of countries represented (20 more than two years ago) to a total of 48, with particular growth in professionals from Germany, France, Italy, China, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey and Morocco, as well as receiving visitors from all over Spain.

In terms of professional profile, 40% were fleet operators, followed by manufacturers, representatives of the ancillary industry and public administration officials.

These figures, together with the 34% growth in business participation, with a hundred exhibitors - representing 85% of the national market share - and the increase in exhibition space (38,700 m2, 79% more than two years ago, occupying halls 8 and 10), bear testimony to the definitive recovery of the bus and coach industry, once again finding its biggest commercial showcase at FIAA.

In actual fact, the fair once again presented a broad offering, structured around the sectors of: Full Vehicles; Chassis; Bodyworks; Elements, Accessories and Technology; Maintenance; Transportation Infrastructure; and Associations, Organisations and Services.

International awards

For such a special edition, on the eve of its inauguration on 21 October, the Show held a grand Gala at the "Malinche" auditorium at IFEMA MADRID, where FIAA presented its prestigious international awards, the Minibus of The Year and the Sustainable Bus Awards, which recognise the innovative efforts of the industry.

The winner of the Minibus of The Year was the City 75 Electric, developed by German firm Tremonia Mobility. As for the Sustainable Bus Awards, the awards went to the Solaris Urbino 12 Electric model, put forward by Solaris Bus & Coach, in the "Urban" category; the Lion's City 12 ELE, from Man Truck & Bus, in the "Intercity" category, and the Touring GNL / LBG HD from the Scania Group in the "Coach" category

Organised by IFEMA MADRID, FIAA 2024 was inaugurated on 22 October by the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, who was joined by the Minister for Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, as well as the Regional Minister for Housing, Transport and Infrastructures of the Community of Madrid, Jorge Rodrigo, amongst other authorities.

In addition to this institutional representation, there was also a visit during the fair by the heads of the regional transport ministries and directorates-general of 9 autonomous communities: Aragón, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Castile- La Mancha, Castile and León, Madrid, Melilla, Murcia and Valencia.

FIAA also brought together support from the entire sector with the participation and backing of all its associations, including foreign associations representing markets of interest to the national industry. Specifically, FIAA 2024 was attended by the Spanish Confederation of Bus Transport, CONFEBUS; the National Association of Coach Transport Employers, ANETRA; the National Association of Coach and Bus Manufacturers, ASCABUS; the Association of Urban and Metropolitan Public Transport, ATUC, and the Association of Coach Companies, DIREBUS, and at an international level, theNational Passenger Transport Association of Portugal, ANTROP, the Belgian Federation of Bus and Coach Operators, and the Moroccan Association of Coach builders.

. Activities

On the 22nd and 23rd, a press day was once again organised, with presentations at the stands of some of the main exhibiting companies, where journalists had the chance to a closer look at the main new products. 23.

The activities’ programme running concurrently with the trade fair was rounded off by a round table discussion, led by the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium; the Municipal Transport Company of Madrid, EMT, and CONFEBUS, on the future of buses in Madrid; a tribute to the Director of FIAA, David Moneo, for his dedication to the sector, on behalf of the

Association of Coach Companies, DIREBUS, and activities such as the re-enactment of a coach rescue, during the four days of the Fair, undertaken by the company ED-RESCUE, with the collaboration of the Madrid Fire Brigade, amongst other outstanding events.

In turn, Carrilbus organised a series of talks at the Auditorium of Hall 8, with the intervention of the representatives of the regional ministries related with buses and coaches from various autonomous communities, in relation to issues such as urban and metropolitan mobility; the current situation of interurban and rural mobility; technologies, vehicles, payment systems and access to the different media, or the projects and plans of the Administration related with the improvement of mobility in these communities.

It was also the stage for exhibiting companies to present their new products and innovations.

Further to this successful event, IFEMA MADRID is already working on preparations for the sixteenth edition of the International Bus and Coach Fair, FIAA, which will be held from 22 to 25 September 2026.

Link to the list of exhibitors at the FIAA website –  . CLICK HERE

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More information at:  www.fiaa.ifema.es