A model of Comac’s C919 aircraft on the Singapore Airshow on Feb. 6, 2018.
SeongJoon Cho / Bloomberg / Getty Images
SINGAPORE — China is gearing as much as showcase its narrow-body passenger jet to a world audience for the primary time on the Singapore Airshow.
Touted as a competitor to Boeing’s 737 and the Airbus 320, the Comac C919 is quickly turning out to be one of the anticipated features at this 12 months’s event.
The business aircraft was developed by the Industrial Aircraft Corporation of China, or Comac, and licensed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in September 2022.
“Flying for the primary time on the Singapore Airshow, is the C919, a narrow-body airliner developed by Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac,” Singapore Airshow organizer and manager Experia Events said in a press release.
The air show, held from Feb. 20 to 25 this 12 months, is typically attended by tens of 1000’s, including military delegations and aviation enthusiasts, and can be open to the general public.
Aerospace and aviation industry bellwethers including Airbus, Boeing, Comac and defense contractors akin to Lockheed Martin, Dassault, SAAB, Leonardo, Thales are amongst those participating at this 12 months’s event.
“Generally what to search for is a concentrate on China with the C919 making its international debut. The Singapore Airshow is a implausible opportunity for Comac particularly given the present situation with Boeing,” Brendan Sobie of Sobie Aviation told CNBC.
Sobie noted that this 12 months’s air show might be significant as it could be seen as “an emblem of Asia’s recovery.”
Aerial acrobatics and more
The Singapore Airshow will feature the most important variety of foreign flying teams this 12 months, in accordance with organizer Experia. The primary edition of the exhibition, certainly one of Asia’s biggest aerospace events, was first held in 2008.
The Indian Air Force’s Sarang aerial display team, which flies modified helicopters, can be performing aerial acrobatics. Others include the Royal Australian Air Force’s Roulettes, the Indonesian Air Force’s Jupiter and the Republic of Korea Air Force’s Black Eagles. America Air Force’s B-52 Stratofortress will make a flypast on Feb. 22, in accordance with the organizer.
Amongst business aircrafts, Airbus can be showcasing its large widebody A350-1000 model on the air show. The French manufacturer may also have static displays of helicopters, military aircraft in addition to its wide-body business jet, the A330neo.
Its key rival Boeing is not going to be featuring any passenger jets on the air show.
There won’t be many announcements of massive business plane orders by airlines this 12 months, as the main target will mostly be on defense aviation and personal jets, analysts told CNBC.
“On a world level, the gap with the Dubai Airshow, which has really grown and turn out to be big for order announcements, has widened over the past several years, thwarting Singapore’s earlier aspirations to turn out to be the third major global show after Paris and Farnborough,” Sobie told CNBC.
The event may also host private jet makers including Cessna maker Textron, Gulfstream, Jet Aviation.
It can also feature “advanced air mobility,” an emerging mode of air transportation which will be in the shape of air taxi services, cargo delivery, medical and emergency response transportation and personal vehicles.
Air taxis are small planes that may land and take off vertically, and are mostly used for brief distances.
Firms akin to Hyundai-owned Supernal, Boeing-owned Wisk and Beta Technologies can be amongst those featuring their flying taxis.
Improving air traffic
The airline industry globally has continued to enhance, with the International Air Transport Association predicting industry net profits could reach $25.7 billion in 2024, a slight improvement from $23.3 billion last 12 months.
Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s senior vice chairman for sustainability and chief economist told CNBC that international demand was at 88.3% of pre-Covid levels last 12 months, largely resulting from the slower recovery of the Asia-Pacific region.
Still, she said, “We expect to see full recovery in 2024.”
“Long term, the outlook continues to be brilliant, especially the Asia Pacific region, which can account for about half of the expected global passenger traffic in 2024,” Owens said.
Asia-Pacific travel recovery is commonly seen as a laggard in comparison with other regions because traffic has yet to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, said Subhas Menon, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, in an email to CNBC.
Nonetheless, “unabating demand, full flights, congested airports and the industry’s return to profitability tells a unique story,” Menon said.
“Seven of the world’s busiest international routes in 2023 were in Asia,” he added, highlighting that half of world air travel growth this 12 months can be within the region.
— CNBC’s Isabella Lok contributed to this story