Industry executives upbeat on Asia as Singapore air show approaches

As the industry gears up for the Singapore air show in February, aerospace executives feel that the Asia-Pacific growth story is intact - albeit with some clear challenges. “The Asia-Pacific is a hot market,” says Bicky Bhangu, president of Southeast Asia, Pacific & South Korea at Rolls-Royce. “It constitutes a huge among of growth. We’ve got 60% of the globally population here and 70% of global GDP growth over the last ten years happened in the Asia-Pacific.” Bhangu made the remarks during a media roundtable arranged by show organiser Experia Events. The show, which will run from 20-25 February, will be the first edition in six years that is not impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 event was overshadowed by the emergence of Covid 19 – then called the Wuhan coronavirus – in China. While the 2022 event was well attended, Covid-19 restrictions such as masking wearing, daily testing, and restrictions to group sizes served to tone down the show. Bhangu adds that Singapore is a major centre for R-R, both for manufacturing engines as well as maintaining engines in service with Asia-Pacific carriers.<br/>