Still eagerly awaiting signs of lasting recovery from its three-year slump, the world’s aerospace industry will be looking to Singapore’s biennial airshow to deliver more of the sort of upbeat activity levels reported at the Dubai show staged in December. Asian Aerospace 2004 (February 24 to 29) will be viewed as a particularly important indicator of the health of the air-transport industry in the Asia/Pacific region. On top of all the global economic woes endured by carriers elsewhere, airlines in that part of the world have been battered by the fallout from the SARS epidemic and, even now, they must be holding their collective breath as Chinese authorities try to contain fresh outbreaks in their territory.
The continuing threat of international terrorism has fueled increased demand for high-technology defense and security equipment. This demand will be reflected at AA2004 in the shape of a high-profile presence of unmanned aerial vehicles.
