September 26th, 2025

Wednesday started well before dawn. The alarm rang at 1:30 a.m., followed by a quick shower, a light breakfast and then straight to Thun, where a bus chartered by Studer was waiting at 3:00. At that hour, the roads were completely deserted, and I reached the car park a little ahead of schedule. The ride to Zurich included several stops to pick up other passengers. Half-asleep along the way, we eventually reached the airport—so early, in fact, that check-in hadn’t even opened yet.

The idea of these special flights reminded me of a story going back several decades, in the days of Swissair. I was then Sales Director for Switzerland, the Benelux, Scandinavia and Austria. One day I came up with a rather bold idea: to organise a same day return flight so clients could visit the EMO in Hanover without the need for an overnight stay. At that time and truth be told, still today, this was impossible with scheduled flights. With no experience and not knowing whether the idea would attract much interest, I cautiously booked a 95-seater aircraft. At first bookings came in slowly, but then they poured in. I had to request a larger aircraft… and in the end, we took off with a fully booked Airbus A330! If a 747 had been available, it would have been filled as well.

Today, the reality is very different. Since COVID, flight prices have soared. Even with relatively high fares, costs are barely covered. This time, we flew with Edelweiss, a Swiss airline that mainly operates seasonal holiday routes not offered by Swiss. Everything went smoothly, from the flight to the transfer to the exhibition grounds.

On arrival, I discovered the new stand—truly impressive! Expanded from 1,000 to 1,600 m², it perfectly reflects the integration of GF’s machine tool division into the group. Prestigious brands such as Agie, Charmilles, Mikron, Liechti, System 3R and Step Tec now further enrich an already strong portfolio.

But what struck me most were not the square metres, but the faces. I was reunited with former colleagues, partners, agents, journalists… even the catering team was the same. And a delightful detail: the former barista, who had since changed careers, actually took time off just to come back and serve coffee on the stand. When someone returns out of sheer enthusiasm, it’s surely the best proof that good memories were left behind.

I must admit, I wasn’t overly keen on returning to Hanover. For me, that chapter is closed. I had wonderful years overseeing exhibitions around the world, but today a new team is doing a remarkable job, with fresh ideas of their own. I certainly wouldn’t want to give the impression of interfering or “checking up” on them. And yet… now that I’m on my way home, I don’t regret for a moment having made the trip. It was both impressive and thoroughly enjoyable to reconnect and exchange with so many people.

The journey back is with Deutsche Bahn. True to its reputation, the train was already ten minutes late departing Hanover. But then again, would it really be Deutsche Bahn without a minor delay? Fortunately, I have no commitments this evening, apart from collecting my car at the Studer car park and heading home.

In the meantime, the delay has increased further, and I will arrive in Thun an hour later than scheduled!