The world of aerospace is gathering in Paris this weekend, and lots of people from St. Louis are joining the crowd in a bid to drum up business.

Gov. Jay Nixon is leading a delegation of 14 Missouri companies and institutions to the Paris Air Show, a massive trade show and exhibition that for a week every two years becomes the center of the plane-making universe. The delegation, which left Friday, will head from Paris to the United Kingdom, then Belgium and return June 22.

The mission to Europe is a bit of a departure for Nixon, whose past overseas trade trips have headed toward developing markets in Asia and Latin America. But the visit highlights the growing importance of global customers for Missouris aerospace industry.

Most of the companies joining Nixon on the trip are in the aviation business, from industry giant Boeing Co. to smaller suppliers such as Essex Industries, in south St. Louis County, and Clayton-based Sabreliner. And pretty much all of them are looking for new customers overseas, because thats where the business is.

Last week, Boeing issued its newest 20-year forecast for commercial jet sales and predicts surging demand in the developing world. Between now and 2032, Boeing estimates, airlines in the Asia-Pacific region will spend nearly $1.9 trillion on new jets, more than all European and North American airlines put together.

There is no doubt that the industrys center of gravity is moving from the U.S. to Asia, Randy Tinseth, vice president for marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told Reuters news service last week. Right now, 37 percent of all traffic touches Asia. By 2032 it will approach 50.

And customers from Asia, and the rest of the world, will be walking the chalets this week, looking to cut deals. Aerospace analyst Peter Arment, with Sterne Agee, predicts $60 billion worth of sales will be announced at Paris, and many more deals in progress inch their way up the pipeline.

Having so many customers in one place makes Paris worth the trip for Sabreliner, which is sending two executives along with Nixons delegation, said Steve Sperry, vice president for business development. Sabreliner installs helicopter interiors and electronics for several Middle Eastern nations and is hoping to add European clients to its business of manufacturing spare parts for older jets.

Paris is actually a place where they all show up, Sperry said. Its a very cost-effective way to see all your customers in one spot.

And with the Pentagon pulling back on spending and new defense programs, those international military customers are becoming more important all the time. At least 30 percent of Sabreliners business originates overseas, Sperry said, mostly from government clients. Big contractors are making a push for international customers, too.

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Nixon, aerospace firms, head to Paris looking for deals