The first major international aerospace and defense event of 2016 will run from February 16-21 when the next biennial Singapore Airshow is staged at the purpose-built Changi Exhibition Centre. Back in June, after selling 80 percent of available exhibit space, organizer Experia indicated that it expects next year’s show to be larger than the previous record-setting event.
This forecast, however, was made before Chinese equity markets collapsed over the summer in response to emerging data indicating significant stalling in China’s economic growth. In recent months, a mixed picture has emerged in terms of how the fall-out from these difficulties will affect various Asia Pacific economies.
In 2014, the Singapore show attracted 45,000 trade visitors and more than 100,000 public visitors, as well as around 1,000 exhibiting companies from 47 countries. Around three quarters of exhibitors booked for this year’s event have participated previously. The event, which saw around $32 billion in announced orders, also drew 274 official delegations from 76 countries, as well as nearly 70 CEOs, presidents and chairmen of various airlines and leading industry associations.
As of press time, no details of the show’s static and flying displays had been confirmed. However, the roster is expected to at least match the 2014 lineup, which included around 90 different aircraft.
Earlier this year, Experia selected France to be the Featured Country for the 2016 Singapore show (following on from the same honor being bestowed on the U.S. in 2014). The French Pavilion will enjoy a prominent position in the main exhibition hall. French exhibitors will also have access to a special new “Deminar” area where they can hold product demonstrations and seminars. They will also benefit from specially arranged visits with VIP delegations.
Three new exhibition zones have been devised for the 2016 Singapore Airshow: training and simulation, aerospace emerging technologies and business aviation. The show agenda also includes three special Business Forum events focusing on training and simulation, aerospace emerging technologies, and the wider Asian business environment.
According to Experia, the Asia Pacific region will be a big driver of growth in the training and simulation market, with the military sector expected to represent an increasing share of this demand. Modernization of complex combat platforms is a big factor in this trend, with air forces projected to account for just over half the total training and simulation market by 2021.
According to analysts Frost & Sullivan, global demand for training and simulation is expected to increase at an average compound annual growth rate of 2.5 percent between 2012 and 2021 with a total value of $411.05 billion. After North America, the Asia Pacific region is expected to be the second largest market, with a growth rate of 4.3 percent per year.
The increased sophistication of information technology used to support maintenance, repair and overhaul activity will be a major topic in the emerging technologies zone, with exhibits dedicated to intelligent automation, inflight broadband, ‘big data’ analytics and ‘augmented reality’.
According to technology specialist ICF International, the growing number of IP-enabled aircraft entering service will increase the potential for using advanced connectivity to make support activity more efficient by generating and processing more data relating to the performance of aircraft. The company forecasts that aircraft data generation will increase massively from approximately 11TB in 2012 to 137TB in 2022. Other technologies making a bigger impact in aviation are the use of electronic techlogs and flight bags, Cloud-based data storage, extensible markup language that can make data readable by both humans and machines, and autonomous electronic data interchange.
Singapore show organizers also expect a busy business aviation zone, with the Asia Pacific region still generating double-digit growth in this sector. According to the Asia Pacific Jet Fleet Report released by the Asian Sky Group at the ABACE show held in Shanghai last April, the region’s bizjet fleet grew by 15 percent in 2014 from 647 to 744 new or pre-owned aircraft. Last year, the Greater China fleet alone grew by 16 percent, but the forecasters see this figure falling to around 10 percent this year.
Among several planned specialist conferences being held in conjunction with this year’s show will be the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit on February 14-15. This will include a keynote address by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and will include sessions on airport hub operations, unmanned aircraft systems and ICAO’s efforts to achieve a global agreement on aircraft emissions. Other scheduled speakers include Singapore’s minister for transport and infrastructure Khaw Boon Wan, and IATA director general and CEO Tony Tyler.
Several other conferences are to be held in conjunction with the 2016 Singapore Airshow, including the Asia Pacific Security Conference and the A*STAR Aerospace Leadership Forum on February 15. As of press time, no further details of the agendas for these events had been published. Also planned are two Education Days on February 18 and 19 that will promote careers in aerospace for young people.
Experia has taken steps to improve the visitor experience for the event, such as introducing off-site security clearance that allows people to be screened before they board special buses and then be driven straight into the show site. Also new are mobile device charging stations and furniture made from recycled materials to reduce the show’s environmental footprint. o