Singapore Airshow expects sharp fall in visitor numbers - organiser

Singapore Technologies Engineering

13/02/2022 02:47

* More than 13,000 expected, down from nearly 30,000 in 2020
    * More than 70% of world's top 20 aerospace companies
attending
    * Asia's aviation industry seeing nascent signs of recovery

    SINGAPORE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - A sharp fall in trade visitors
is expected at the Singapore Airshow this week compared to the
last edition two years ago as COVID-19 continues to hit the
industry, the organiser of Asia's biggest aerospace industry
gathering said on Sunday.
    More than 13,000 trade visitors are expected at the biennial
show from Tuesday 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 https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/asias-slow-aviation-recovery-cast-shadow-over-singapore-airshow-2022-02-11
 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  AIR.PA , Boeing  BA.N  and Lockheed Martin
 LMT.N , 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
 STEG.SI , Japan's Sumitomo Corp  8053.T  and Skyports said on
Sunday 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 7 kgs (15 pounds).  

 (Reporting by Chen Lin in Singapore and Jamie Freed in Sydney)
 ((Jamie.Freed@thomsonreuters.com;))