The Singapore Airshow, Asia’s biggest aerospace gathering, is to go ahead as planned next week, despite a viral outbreak in China prompting some firms to pull out, but a key meeting of aviation officials has been canceled, organizers said yesterday.
The trade portion of the airshow, held every two years, is set to begin on Tuesday next week under the shadow of the outbreak that has prompted measures by several nations, including Singapore, to contain the spread of infections.
The city-state banned entry to all Chinese visitors and foreigners with a recent history of travel to China, which had raised concerns over the staging of the event.
The move came as the death toll in China from the flu-like virus rose to at least 425, with two other fatalities reported in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
The WHO last week declared the virus, which has spread to almost two dozen countries, a global emergency.
“In view of the evolving 2019 novel coronavirus situation, the organizer will introduce enhanced precautionary measures to safeguard the well-being and safety of all attendees,” Experia Events Pte Ltd said in a statement.
Additional temperature screenings are to be conducted at the show’s access points.
However, Experia said an aviation leadership summit scheduled on the eve of the event would be canceled as this would allow aviation executives to work out responses to the virus outbreak.
Aviation data firm OAG said there would be more than 25,000 fewer flights operated to, from and within China this week compared with two weeks ago, with 30 airlines halting services.
Citing industry sources, Reuters reported earlier that the summit, which was to involve 300 aviation executives, comprising government officials, civil aviation authorities and airline executives, had been canceled.
International Air Transport Association director-general Alexandre de Juniac would no longer travel to Singapore, said a spokesman representing the airline body.
Ten companies from China, including Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (中國商用飛機), which is developing the C919 narrowbody jet, and another six exhibitors from four other countries, would not attend the airshow, Experia said.
Business jet manufacturers Bombardier Inc, Textron Inc and General Dynamics Corp’s Gulfstream division are among those that have pulled out.
However, Boeing Co, Airbus SE and Lockheed Martin Corp, among the biggest exhibitors, yesterday said that they still plan to attend the show.
The lower attendance at the airshow, which is used as a barometer of the industry’s health, is a poor omen for a sector grappling with a sharp fall in travel demand due to the virus.
At the last show in 2018, there were 54,000 trade attendees from 147 countries and 1,062 participating companies, some of whom ended up signing deals covering commercial aviation, defense, maintenance and repair operations and business jets.
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