Asia 'absent' as Farnborough airshow reflects pandemic damage

Asian airline operators were quiet at one of the world's biggest airshows last week, with a dearth of new deals reflecting the region's hesitant recovery from the pandemic and the industry's focus on financing existing aircraft orders, analysts say. Manufacturers and operators regularly formalize and announce orders and partnerships at the Farnborough International Airshow, in England. And this summer, the five-day event was held in the real world for the first time since before the pandemic. But despite the return of in-person meetings, the airshow was "very, very quiet" in terms of deals, said Sash Tusa, partner and analyst at Agency Partners, an independent equity research firm in London. In terms of new orders at the airshow, Asia was "absent," he said. In general, between 2014 and 2019, Airbus and Boeing together attracted orders for an average of 750 aircraft at each show, which alternates between Farnborough and Paris. This year "we're running just over a third of that level," Tusa said. Ronan Murphy, a director at Alton Aviation Consultancy, said Asia appears to have a near-term focus on "securing financing for the existing large commitments that already exist, and getting the networks reopened before Asian carriers maybe switch to thinking about new orders." Although demand and passenger numbers are recovering to pre-pandemic levels in the US and Europe, Asia lags behind. China, a key country that feeds air traffic across the region, continues to impose COVID-19 travel restrictions and lockdowns. Japan, meanwhile, is capping tourist arrivals. Story has more.<br/>