The organisers of Moscow international air show claimed that the event had generated over $3 billion in contracts, triple the amount of business the last show saw, but still much less than the western air shows that Russia is trying to emulate. The show opened last Monday and closed last Sunday.

The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), an umbrella organisation for Russia's plane makers, signed some $1.5 billion in contracts. Deals made by other manufacturers would boost the total to around $3 billion, said Russian news agencies. The 2005 edition of the biennial show had brought about $1 billion in contracts. (See: Russia's biggest air show, MAKS 2007, gets 100,000 visitors daily)

Russia hopes the show eventually will be as much a force in the industry as Britain's Farnborough air show and France's Paris air show at Le Bourget. But it has a long way to go. At this year's Paris air show, Airbus alone signed contracts worth $88 billion.

However, little action was reported for one of Russia's strongest hopes in the civilian market - the Sukhoi Superjet 100 - which seats 75 to 95 passengers. The regional jet includes Boeing among its subcontractors, but reportedly got no new orders during the show. Sukhoi and the Italian company Alenia Aeronatica signed a joint-venture agreement to sell and service the planes.

Many older-design Russian airliners do not meet Western standards for noise and emissions, limiting Russia's market. Not surprisingly, one of the larger deals of this year's air show was the purchase of four Boeing 737s by Atlant-Soyuz, an airline controlled by the Moscow city government.

Among other deals announced during the show was an agreement signed by Boeing and Russia's VSMPO-Avisma to create a joint venture to make titanium forgings for use in the production of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

But Russia's military aviation sector remains strong. Military-related contracts totalled around $400 million. State arms trader Rosoboronexport said nearly 800 companies from about 100 countries participated in the biannual show, up from 70 two years ago. The largest foreign delegations were from China, Latin America and Arab countries.

But the reputation of Russia's military planes came under shadow after the military grounded all its Su-24 bombers. A Su-24 crash the previous week in the far east of the country was believed to have been caused by technical problems.

Undeterred by the Sukhoi disappointment, Russia said it planned to spend about $250 billion to build about 4,500 civilian aircraft by 2025. As usual for an event of its size, media reported plenty of glitches, including inadequate toilet facilities and long traffic jams.

The next Moscow International Aerospace Show (MAKS) will also be held at the Zhukovsky air base near Moscow from 18 August to 23 August 2009, Boris Alyoshin, the director of the Russian Federal Agency for Industries, told reporters.

"The government is considering setting up a transport and exhibition compound at Zhukovsky," Alyoshin said. Refuting rumours that a new show will replace MAKS in two years' time, he said MAKS will be held on even years and an exhibition on ground forces during odd years.

Government-controlled weaponry exporting company Rosoboronexport, meanwhile, is bidding to be given the contract to run MAKS 2009. Rosoboronexport's Director General, Sergei Chemezov, sais his company has enough experience to run the MAKS shows, which are essential for supporting Russia's image as a major power in aviation and space research.