Gloom ahead of Singapore air show

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Military aircraft makers are set to dominate Asia's largest air show in Singapore this week.

Few, if any, sales of planes to commercial airlines are expected during the event.

But the Asia Pacific region is experiencing a return to growth that should prove lucrative going forward.

So aircraft and equipment makers such as Boeing, EADS, Airbus, as well as Honeywell, Rolls-Royce and Lockheed Martin, are exhibiting at the show.

Attendance and deal-making at the Singapore air show, which is hosted in the east of the city state near Changi airport, will indicate the state of the aerospace industry.

"We're slowly turning things around," Jimmy Lau, managing director of the Singapore Air Show, told a news conference.

"Any news is good news this week, as far as I'm concerned."

The organisers expect 130,000 people, including buyers and the general public, to visit the trade show.

The figure would be on par with the last air show in 2008.

Singapore had previously hosted the international trade show, Asian Aerospace, for decades. A disagreement between its organisers and the Singapore government ended in the air show moving to Hong Kong.

But due to the city's status as part of China, the Hong Kong show dropped its military-related exhibitors. The lucrative business has found a home at the Singapore air show, which opens on Tuesday.