Saturday, February 23, 2008

Over $13.4 Billion in Deals Reached in Singapore Airshow

Singapore Airshow Organizers Say the Exhibition Sees Over US$13.4 Billion Turnover in Aircraft and Related Equipment This Week.

The Singapore Airshow saw more than 13.4 billion US dollars in sales of aircraft and related equipment this week, thanks to a booming aviation market, organisers have said. Another 2.6 billion dollars was generated from contracts for facilities and other services, they said in a statement issued late Friday, at the inaugural event.

The small but wealthy city-state decided to host its own airshow after organisers of the Asian Aerospace fair moved the event to Hong Kong after a long presence here. The biggest deal announced at the airshow was an order for 56 Boeing 737-900ER aircraft worth more than 4.4 billion dollars by Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air. Indonesian flag-carrier Garuda ordered four Boeing 777-300ERs worth 1.0 billion dollars and business jet operator BJets signed a 600-million-dollar contract for 40 Cessna and Hawker jets.

US-based Boeing's European rival said it had secured orders for five A330-200F cargo planes from BOC Aviation, an aircraft leasing firm fully owned by Bank of China. The deal is worth a total of 877 million dollars at catalogue prices.

Brazilian aircraft-maker Embraer said US aircraft leasing firm Jetscape Inc has ordered 10 E190 jets, with options for another 10 and purchase rights for 10 more. The deal is worth 375 million US dollars at list price. It could be worth up to 1.1 billion dollars if all the options and purchase rights are confirmed, Embraer said at the airshow.

Embraer also said Australia's Virgin Blue has signed a contract to exercise four purchase rights for E190 jets worth 150 million US dollars. This takes the number of firm orders from Virgin Blue to 24, consisting of six E170s and 18 E190s.

"The new deals announced at the airshow demonstrate once again that Asia is the world's fastest-growing aerospace market," said Jimmy Lau, managing director of the event's organisers. He said 70 percent of the exhibitors have already confirmed bookings for the biennial event in 2010 being held at a new seaside location near Changi Airport.

Lau promised "an even bigger and better" show in 2010, saying this year's event already had 40 percent more exhibition area than Asian Aerospace which was last held in Singapore in 2006 and saw 15.2 billion dollars in deals. More than 30,000 accredited industry professionals visited the airshow and numbers were expected to was opened to the public at the weekend.

Organisers have dubbed the Singapore Airshow as Asia's biggest aerospace event because it has civilian and defence components, while Asian Aerospace has focused on commercial aviation after its shift to Hong Kong.

More than 800 exhibitors from 42 countries, including US defence firms Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, took part in the airshow that featured the latest warplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles and executive business jets.

"Asia is a vital market for us and it has been our constant endeavour to establish and strengthen our ties with this dynamic region," said Bernard Buisson, Singapore managing director for European aerospace giant EADS which owns Airbus.

Joe Song, Asia Pacific vice president for business development at Boeing's defence arm, said the presence of "sophisticated customers", emerging security threats and military air transport requirements for humanitarian operations make the region an attractive market.

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