Singapore Airshow’s record numbers, China’s C919, raise hopes of post Covid-19 boom

“‘Worst transport experience’: Crawling traffic, long waits for rides frustrate Singapore Airshow visitors”, ran a headline in local newspaper the Straits Times.

Leck Chet Lam, managing director of show organiser Experia, blamed “higher attendance than in previous editions”.

More than 1,000 commercial and defence companies from 50 countries participated in the show, organisers said.

“The general mood is extremely positive but also very demanding,” said Dennis Kohr, head of corporate sales Asia-Pacific for aircraft maintenance provider Lufthansa Technik Group.

“It’s the first air show after the pandemic; there is not only a huge demand for air travel, but also huge demand for MRO services,” he added, referring to maintenance, repair and overhaul.

Natasha Pheiffer, regional managing director for Asia at British defence firm BAE Systems, said it was great to see attendees face to face again.

“We had a really busy week … discussing future air capability, our space and autonomous air technologies, our cyber, electronic warfare, sea, and land offering and our presence across Asia,” she said.

COMAC was also the first company to announce orders at the show, flagging a deal with Tibet Airlines for 40 C919 single-aisle planes and 10 ARJ21 regional jets, plus six ARJ21s for China’s Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Group.

Shortly afterwards, Royal Brunei Airlines said it was ordering four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

Airbus announced an order for five A350 freighters and three A330neo widebody passenger jets from Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines. Airbus also had a provisional deal with Vietnamese budget carrier VietJet for 20 A330neo widebody airliners.

Sustainability was in focus, with Singapore announcing a green jet fuel mandate to be