Singapore air show kicks off amid supply chain strains, regional demand surge

By Julie Zhu and Jun Yuan Yong

SINGAPORE, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Singapore kicked off Asia’s biggest aviation gathering on Tuesday as the industry looks to meet ambitious regional growth targets despite widespread supply chain shortages that have delayed many aircraft deliveries.

More than 1,000 companies are participating in the 10th edition of ​the biennial Singapore Airshow, from industry giants like Airbus and Boeing to local champion ST Engineering and a new wave of drone-focused defence firms like ‌Anduril Industries and Shield AI.

Close to 60,000 people attended the four trade days of the prior show in 2024, and organisers have said they are expecting even better numbers this year after the debut of an ‌accompanying space summit where Singapore said on Monday it would launch its .

The Asia-Pacific region is the world’s fastest-growing region for air travel, propelled by China and India, with passenger traffic growth of 7.3% projected for 2026, but plane makers and engine manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand for fleet expansions.

“As the aviation market continues to grow, there is a mismatch of demand-supply,” said Jeffrey Lam, president of ST Engineering’s commercial aerospace division, the world’s largest airframe maintenance and repair services provider.

“And I think the mood (at the show) would reflect that there’s ⁠a lot of expectations, a lot of anticipation of how ‌the industry can continue to recover to meet market demand, whether from the airlines or from flight passengers.”

Boeing announced a deal with Air Cambodia for 10 of its 737 MAX jets, while Chinese planemaker COMAC is among those vying for attention with its homegrown C919 ‍passenger jet, which is making its second appearance at the show this year after dominating headlines two years ago.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Chinese company’s smaller C909 regional model received the show’s first plane order when China’s Shanxi Victory General Aviation signed a letter of intent for six firefighting aircraft.

The passenger version of the C909 has begun to gain some traction in Southeast Asia, where Indonesia’s TransNusa, ​Lao Airlines and Vietnam’s VietJet Aviation have operated the model on over 20 routes carrying more than 700,000 passengers, according to COMAC data.

KEY MEETING POINT

The Singapore Airshow ‌has accounted for just 5% of global air show orders since 2012, according to calculations by Jefferies analysts, lagging far behind Paris, Farnborough and Dubai, which are held later in the year.

Nevertheless, it serves as a key meeting point for regional airline executives and their counterparts at plane makers and engine manufacturers as they look to meet growing demand for air travel in the Asia-Pacific region, which is home to about 35% of global air traffic.

India, China and Southeast Asia are forecast to account for eight of the world’s 10 fastest-growing air travel markets between 2024 and 2044, according to an Alton Aviation Consultancy report released on the eve of the show.

The show’s reach has extended to the ⁠Middle East, with Qatar and Saudi Arabia sending civil aviation delegations to the city-state, where home carrier ​Singapore Airlines announced on Monday it would launch four weekly flights to Riyadh from June.

DEFENCE OFFERINGS

On the ​defence side, 11 Israeli companies and the country’s defence ministry were welcomed as exhibitors after receiving the cold shoulder from organisers of the Paris and Dubai air shows last year due to the country’s war in Gaza.

China’s AVIC was displaying a large model of its J-35A as ‍it looks for international sales of the fighter ⁠jet it has been marketing as a lower-cost alternative to Lockheed Martin’s F-35.

Meanwhile, Boeing said it was no longer building F-15 fighter jets for Indonesia, ending what was a marquee deal for Jakarta’s military expansion.

Large groups of Southeast Asian military officials were among those taking a keen interest in the show’s defence offerings ⁠on Tuesday.

Vietnam’s delegation viewed Airbus’ displays of military helicopters and the A400M transport plane at its stand, while Thai military officers headed to Embraer’s static display and Singapore defence ministry officials were at Israel Aerospace ‌Industries’ booth.

The show’s lunchtime flying display included performances by air force pilots from Singapore, Indonesia, India, China, Malaysia and Australia.

(Reporting by Julie Zhu, Jun ‌Yuan Yong, Tim Hepher and Joe Brock; Writing by Jamie Freed; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)