The ninth edition of the biennial aerospace and defence exhibition will take place from Feb 20 to Feb 25, 2024. - ST FILE
SINGAPORE: After a pandemic-induced hiatus, the public will once again be able to attend the Singapore Airshow to view aerial performances by local and visiting air force teams, and get up close to the aircraft on display.
The ninth edition of the biennial aerospace and defence exhibition will take place from Feb 20 to Feb 25, 2024. Tickets allowing the public to enter the event grounds at Changi Exhibition Centre on Feb 24 and Feb 25 will go on sale from Jan 2.
It will cost S$34 each for adults and $17 for children aged 3 to 12 to attend what will be called Weekend@Airshow. A group package at $240 includes four tickets and a carpark label.
Organiser Experia Events said more details on what to expect over the two public days will be announced in the new year. More than 60,000 public visitors are expected over the weekend.
The first four days of the airshow, billed as Asia’s most influential aviation event, are usually reserved for trade visitors, and the two days after that are usually ticketed events open to the public.
Among those attending are high-level government and military delegations, as well as top executives from aerospace and defence firms from around the world.
For the 2020 edition, organisers had to slash the number of tickets sold to the public as a precautionary measure against the emerging Covid-19 virus.
More than 20,000 public visitors attended the event that year, about one-third of the 70,000 public visitors in 2018.
In 2022, the airshow was shrunk even further amid strict pandemic restrictions, and the public days were scrapped.
For trade attendees, the 2024 edition promises a full-scale return, with more than 1,000 companies from more than 50 countries expected to participate.
According to the current exhibitor listing on the airshow’s website, more than 390 companies have been confirmed for the event as at Dec 8.
They include the usual heavyweights such as aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, as well as companies that had dropped out in 2022 due to pandemic restrictions, like Canadian business jet manufacturer Bombardier and American jet maker Gulfstream.
Experia Events said first-time participants in 2024 include Panasonic Avionics, which makes and sells in-flight entertainment and communication devices, and California-based aerospace start-up JetZero, which will be showcasing a futuristic aircraft design that is projected to reduce fuel consumption by half.
In 2022, the Singapore Airshow had close to 600 participating companies from 39 countries.
In 2020, there were 930 participating companies from 45 countries. This was after 70 companies, or about 8 per cent of all exhibitors, withdrew on short notice owing to Covid-19 concerns.
For the 2024 airshow, environmental sustainability is expected to be a major theme. A forum on reducing carbon emissions in the aviation sector will be organised in collaboration with consultancy firm McKinsey.
Airshow attendees will be able to offset the carbon emissions associated with their travel by buying carbon credits from New Zealand company CarbonClick. - The Straits Tmes/ANN
