The biennial Singapore Airshow, Asia’s largest aerospace and defense exhibition, is touting here at Farnborough the event-filled program for its 2018 event, even as the afterglow of the success of this year’s Singapore gathering lingers. The event this past February at the island nation’s Changi Exhibition Centre featured more than 1,000 participating exhibitors, including 65 of the world’s 100 largest aerospace companies. Almost 300 VIP delegations from 90 countries attended, as did more than 48,000 trade attendees from 143 countries. B-to-B meetings increased 8 percent over the 2014 mark and the more than 50 announced deals represented an increase of 16 percent. The 20 country pavilions included the debuts for Indonesia and The Philippines as pavilion hosts.
The static aircraft display featured more than 55 military, commercial and general aviation aircraft, and the airshow performances included the Black Eagles Aerobatic Team from the Republic of South Korea, an integrated display of an F-15SG fighter and AH-64D Apache attack helicopter by the Republic of Singapore Air Force, and a flight demonstration of an A350 XWB airliner from Airbus.
Leck Chet Lam, managing director of show organizer Experia Events, said, “97 percent of exhibitors surveyed affirmed that they had met their objectives in participating” in the gathering, and voted it “one of the most important events in the global aerospace and defense calendar.”
The planned 2018 Singapore Airshow appears on track to best these high points. Under its banner of Emerging Technologies and Innovation, industry leaders including Airbus, Bell Helicopter, Boeing, Israel Aerospace Industries, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have already signed up. The show will also debut the Start-Up and Innovation Showcase, which Leck called “A launchpad for pioneering aerospace and defense technologies.” More seminars and supplier conferences are also scheduled.
Meanwhile, with helicopters playing an expanding role in the region, organizers are also planning to debut next year a new biennial show, Rotorcraft Asia. “We’re currently seeing a shift in demand for civil helicopters from North America and Europe to the Asia Pacific region,” said Leck, citing projections indicating that over the next decade the region’s fleet expansion will be double the global growth forecast (54 percent vs. 27 percent). A co-located event, Unmanned Systems Asia, will be staged simultaneously with Rotorcraft Asia.
It’s not too early to start planning. The Rotorcraft/Unmanned Systems Asia event will be held April 18-20, 2017, and the Singapore Airshow is set for February 6-11, 2018.