Dear Mr. Fumero,
Dear Mr. Kirschfink,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

welcome to the Hamburg Receptionat the Paris Air Show.

Aviation is an innovative industry. With every new generation, the fuel consumption of an Airbus-jet is reduced significantly. Quieter, safer, more sustainable: this is the course that the global aviation industry is holding.

The Paris Air Show presents the newest technological developments and is one of the most important get-together of the industry.

Among the companies and organisations exhibiting here, you can find many from Hamburg and Northern Germany. Today you have the opportunity to get in touch with them in first person and to get an impression of their plans for the future.

Hamburg is the third biggest hub of the civil aviation industry worldwide.

One in six aircrafts is delivered at Airbus Hamburg. One in five planes is serviced by Lufthansa Technik.

Besides these large international corporations, there are more than 300 further companies with 40,000 plus employees in the aviation industries operating in Hamburg.

Many of them are members of our "Hamburg Aviation" cluster, which brings together the different segments of the industry and is a one-stop-shop for all questions about aviation in the Metropolitan Region Hamburg.

One of our main strengths is Research and Development.

The Centre for Applied Aeronautical Research ZAL - also represented here at the Paris Air Show - brings together business and science, industry and research, to develop solutions for the future - in additive manufacturing and robotics, modern cabin systems and digital technologies.

Together with Airbus and Lufthansa Technik, the ZAL for example prototyped a new surface coating, a kind of sharkskin for airplanes, which reduces aerodynamic drag and cuts fuel consumption by about 1.5 percent.

For the whole Lufthansa fleet, this means savings of 55 million Euro in fuel costs cutting about 200,000 tons of CO2(carbon dioxide) every year.

Ladies and Gentlemen, aviation is not only an industry of innovations but also of international cooperation.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Airbus, a prime example ofsuccessful European cooperation and partnership.

We also celebrate the 10th anniversary of the European Aerospace Cluster Partnership EACP, which was founded in Hamburg in 2009.

Today, the initiative has more than 40 members from about 20 countries. It is an important platform for transnational projects and an active exchange between members.

On behalf of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg I would like to thank the Cluster-Management of Hamburg Aviation and all other partners for their work.

Many thanks also to the German Embassy, the German Aerospace Industries Association and the Hanse-Aerospace Association, who helped organize our presence here at the fair.

I wish us all a good time with inspiringconversations at this reception and the Paris Air Show 2019.

Thank you very much.

Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.