Earnings season winds down briefly this week as attention shifts to Asia, where the Singapore air show will take place from 3 February.
Earnings season winds down briefly this week as attention shifts to Asia, where the Singapore air show will take place from 3 February.
The biennial show comes as the travel outlook for the region remains bright, even amid growing geopolitical volatility, as well as persistent supply chain issues.
IATA in its outlook for 2026 points out that Asia-Pacific will be the fastest in terms of traffic growth, thanks to “strong economic momentum” from countries like China, India and Vietnam. Furthermore, Airline Business data for 11 benchmark airlines and groups showed improved profitability for the third quarter of 2025.
Of great interest will be whether this edition will see a flurry of order activity similar to the show in 2024.
That year saw orders from a newly-restructured Thai Airways International, which placed a firm order for 45 Boeing 787-9 aircraft, plus 35 options. The deal also offers the carrier a route to the 777X programme.
Boeing also netted commitments from Royal Brunei Airlines for four 787-9s, as part of the carrier’s widebody fleet renewal plans.
Airbus, meanwhile, won orders from Taiwanese operator Starlux Airlines for five Airbus A350 freighters as well three more A330neo passenger aircraft. It also signed a provisional deal with Vietjet for 20 A330neos, which the carrier firmed up later in the year.
Even China’s Comac, which brought its aircraft to Singapore for the first time in 2024, announced orders for its C909 regional aircraft and C919 narrowbody programmes.
While fleet renewal is still a priority for many Asia-Pacific operators, this year may not see orders of the same scale, given the large backlog of aircraft with both airframers.
Nonetheless, the airframers will be looking to win new business, even as they grapple with ongoing supply chain crunches.
Sustainability appears to be another key theme at this year’s show, especially in sustainable aviation fuels. The focus is timely, given growing policy focus in the region. Furthermore, it comes as Singapore starts to impose a SAF levy on all departing flights from October this year.
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