The tragic demise of Air France flight 447 on June 1 and the host of unanswered questions about the causes of the worst disaster in French aviation history have cast a dark shadow over this week’s Paris air show.

The mood ahead of the biggest gathering of the world aerospace industry this year – which opens today – was already sombre, as commercial aircraft makers and their suppliers confronted the collapse in new orders from airline customers struggling to deal with the impact of the global recession.