Fighter jets, commercial planes and unmanned drones will jostle for attention at Asia's biggest airshow this week as titans Boeing, Airbus and other manufacturers take their wares to the booming Asian market, organizers said.
Industry issues like airport bottlenecks, security, environmental damage, the growth of low-cost carriers and the race to send tourists into space are also expected to be discussed at the inaugural Singapore Airshow, they said.
Regional transport ministers, airline chiefs, airport operators as well as the heads of the International Air Transport Association and the International Civil Aviation Organization are expected to attend.
"The scale of the exhibition is far larger than anything we have had," managing director Jimmy Lau said, comparing it with the Asian Aerospace fair, which has been moved to Hong Kong after a long presence in the city-state.
"We are on the way to becoming one of the top airshows in the world," he said.
More than 30,000 trade visitors, half of them from overseas, are predicted to throng the show from today through Sunday.
Air force chiefs, including the commander of the Israeli Air Force and the Commander of Pacific Forces of the US Air Force, will discuss the future of global air power at their own summit during the event.
Brigadier General Wong Huat Sern, a Singapore air force commander, said one of the emerging issues is the future of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
"For example, what is the future of unmanned warfare and the future growth of UAVs? Will they be used for air-to-air combat?" he said.
The airshow will also feature a conference on defense procurement and a convention showcasing the latest technology in space engineering and design.
Singapore, Southeast Asia's most advanced economy, decided to host its own airshow after organizers of Asian Aerospace transferred the event, held every two years, to Hong Kong.
A record US$15.2 billion in deals was clinched during the last Singapore Asian Aerospace in 2006, but Lau would not comment on potential contracts this year.
The Singapore Airshow will be held at a 30-hectare site near Changi Airport and boasts 40,000m2 of exhibition space, or 40 percent more area than its predecessor.
Unlike Asian Aerospace, which is now strictly a civil aviation event, the Singapore Airshow will have equal commercial and defense components.
As in the past, US-based Boeing, Europe's Airbus and other industry players will showcase their products, including the world's biggest airliner, the Airbus A380, UAVs, warplanes and other lethal war machines.
"The Asia Pacific will continue to be a key market," said Joe Song, Asia Pacific vice president for international business development at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
Defense budgets in the region were growing between five and eight percent annually, he said.
Boeing will bring three F-18 Super Hornets and an F-15 fighter jet to the airshow as part of its defense exhibit that will also feature the Harpoon and JDAM weapons systems.
Air force Top Guns from Singapore and elsewhere will take to the skies during daily aerobatic displays.
Boeing said its commercial exhibit will feature the 787 Dreamliner, its first new model in more than a decade.
The Sydney-based Center for Asia Pacific Aviation consultancy cited reports that Boeing would announce during the airshow orders for about 100 aircraft worth up to US$8 billion from Southeast Asian carriers.
Rival Airbus said it will bring in an A380 aircraft, which will take part in daily flying exhibitions. Last year, Singapore Airlines became the first carrier in the world to commercially fly the double-decker A380, the world's biggest passenger plane.
Sale models of the A350 and the A320, which is popular among Asian budget carriers, will also be displayed.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and
RSS