Aircraft
Indonesian Growth Boosts Singapore Airshow
Business aircraft manufacturers fielded a strong showing  at last month’s Singapore Airshow. Photo: David McIntosh
Business aircraft manufacturers fielded a strong showing at last month’s Singapore Airshow. Photo: David McIntosh

Southeast Asia, rather than the behemoth economies of China and India, provided the bulk of the sales impetus for the 2012 Singapore Airshow. More specifically, it was from Singapore’s neighbor Indonesia that the latest wave of airline fleet modernization came when Lion Air confirmed a massive order for 201 of Boeing’s new 737Max-9 narrowbodies, plus 29 of the existing 737-900ERs. Lion Air had in fact made provisional commitments for the aircraft at last November’s Dubai Air Show but the fact that the deal has been firmed up so quickly and conclusively is undoubtedly good news for Boeing.