SINGAPORE: A sharp fall in trade visitors is expected at the Singapore Airshow this week compared with the last edition two years ago as Covid-19 continues to hit the industry, according to the organiser of Asia’s biggest aerospace industry gathering.

       More than 13,000 trade visitors are expected at the biennial show from tomorrow to Friday, Experia Events managing director Leck Chet Lam told reporters, down from nearly 30,000 in 2020 and around 54,000 in 2018. There will be no public days this time.

       The event has bookended the pandemic, with the 2020 edition disrupted by the virus emerging from China and the latest show coming as the industry attempts to plot a way out of what became its biggest and most costly crisis.

       Leck said more than 70% of the world’s top 20 aerospace companies would be at this year’s show, including industry giants Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, as the industry tries to navigate out of the pandemic.

       International passenger numbers in Asia are rising, though from a very low base, as countries relax pandemic-related border restrictions. Military demand is also picking up as regional economies recover from pandemic-induced slumps and countries look to bolster their capabilities.

       Singapore Economic Development Board vice-president Lim Tse Yong said that major aerospace companies planned to create more than 1,000 jobs in the country over the next two years as the market rebounds.

       “Some of these jobs will be to replace existing jobs but a number of these jobs are also new ones,” he said, referring to hires in advanced manufacturing, robotics and data analytics.

       Ahead of the show, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Japan’s Sumitomo Corp and Skyports said yesterday they had formed a consortium to provide unmanned aircraft for ship-to-shore parcel delivery in Singapore.

       During a nine-month pilot programme, the consortium will engage key customers for drone deliveries, with the goal of establishing a delivery network capable of carrying parcel payloads of up to 7kgs.

       International passenger travel in the region was down 93% from pre-pandemic levels last year, leaving airlines heavily reliant on freight for revenue, and the Chinese outbound tourism market remains closed.

       But there are signs of a rebound this year, Skyscanner booking data shows, as countries such as Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Australia reopen to more vaccinated tourists without quarantine.

       The head of Finnair, which specialises in serving Asia from its Nordic hub, earlier expressed optimism about a return towards normal business later this year.

       Planemakers Airbus, Boeing and Lockheed Martin will send senior executives to the Singapore Airshow from Feb 15-18, using it as an opportunity for now rare face-to-face meetings with customers.

       But there will be around two-thirds fewer exhibitors than 2020, with the challenges of holding the show mirroring the travel difficulties that have pushed some of the region’s airlines to the brink.

       Some industry executives have pulled out, concerned about restrictions including daily testing, no intermingling during mealtime, mandatory masks in the tropical heat as well as hotel isolation if they test positive.

       Singapore-based aviation analyst Brendan Sobie said he expected a quiet, locally oriented gathering with many of the overseas executives holding meetings in the city centre.

       “The concern from many exhibitors is a lack of customers visiting,” Sobie said.

       The Asia-Pacific region accounts for 35% of the world’s commercial aircraft fleet but only 4% of order announcements at air shows over the last decade were made in Singapore, according to broker Jefferies, partly because it is held at the start of the year when purchasing activity is usually thin.

       During the pandemic, most Asian airlines have focused on deferring deliveries and handing back planes to lessors rather than placing fresh orders, though Singapore Airlines in December signed a preliminary deal for seven Airbus A350 freighters.

       That deal, which also involves reducing orders for passenger planes, could be firmed up next week along with announcements from both Airbus and Boeing for new services deals.

       Boeing last month launched a freighter version of its 777X widebody that will compete against the A350 freighter.

       PR efforts at the show will focus on the benefits of new planes in cutting carbon emissions as the industry targets “net-zero” emissions by 2050 through biofuels and engine technology. Environmentalists say the industry is not doing enough.

       The show – which typically features displays of military hardware and aerobatics – comes as South-East Asia remains a key stage for a rivalry between the United States and China.

       China’s extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea, which it says are based on historic maps, have put it at odds with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, which have competing claims to islands and features. — Reuters