Boeing's 787 Dreamliner hogs spotlight in Singapore airshow

SINGAPORE: Boeing's much-delayed 787 Dreamliner is set to star at the Singapore Airshow this week where companies touting private jets and defence hardware to the Asian market will also be out in force. The fuel-efficient, lightweight B787, whose first customer is Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA), was flown in over the weekend in preparation for the Tuesday opening of the trade fair.

Boeing has been dogged by production delays to its showpiece aircraft and ANA has so far received just two of the mid-sized jets, three years after the first plane was originally scheduled for delivery.

Not to be outdone in Singapore, Airbus -- US-based Boeing's European rival -- will display a large-scale model of its A350 XWB which is still under development and is scheduled to enter into service by 2014.

The A350 XWB is a mid-size long-range plane which its makers tout as using 25 per cent less fuel than similar sized aircraft in use today.

With Europe mired in a debt crisis and the US economic recovery still gaining traction, the world's aircraft makers, major defence contractors and aerospace companies are looking at Asia's robust markets, analysts say.

Singapore second minister for trade and industry S. Iswaran said Asia will account for 29 per cent of global aircraft deliveries by 2026, and 32 per cent of world air traffic in 2028.

"This will create huge downstream potential in areas like demand for airplane components and services like aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul in the region," Iswaran said in a recent speech.

But with several airlines having already announced major purchases over the past 18 months, a key area of interest at the airshow -- held from February 14-19 -- will be the growing market for private jets in a region with expanding ranks of super-rich.

"I'm expecting more focus on the private jet market," said Shukor Yusof, a Singapore-based aviation analyst at Standard and Poor's Equity Research.

"I think makers like Bombardier, Gulfstream and Embraer have more to offer in terms of the growing private jet business in mainland China and parts of Southeast Asia," he told AFP.

Shukor said Asian tycoons are increasingly drawn to the convenience of a private jets over commercial flights, especially in a geographically fragmented region.

"It's more than just a status symbol, it's more for practicality... It's probably more economical as well," he said.