Singapore Airshow announces $12B of deals from trade days

SINGAPORE - Organizers of the Singapore Airshow said $12.3 billion in airplane deals were signed at the event this week, a sharp drop from the last show in 2014.

Leck Chet Lam, managing director of Experia Events, said Friday that this year's figure was comprised of 10 deals, with another 40 made at undisclosed values. There were 24 undisclosed deals in 2014.

The 2014 show generated $32 billion of sales. Organizers released this year's total which covers commercial, private and defense deals after the three-day trade period ended Friday.

Modest airplane orders for Boeing and Airbus announced earlier in the week hinted at a lull in demand, as overflowing order books at the manufacturers and a fall in oil prices spurred airlines to keep their older less fuel-efficient planes for longer.

"Many Asian airlines placed large orders between 2011 and 2014, and now have a long pipeline of aircraft deliveries to absorb over the next four years," said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific Chief Economist at IHS Global Insight.

"Future new orders are expected to come in smaller sizes (over the next two years), with most new Asia-Pacific airline orders likely to come in sizes of dozens of aircraft rather than the mammoth orders seen during the 2012 and 2014 Singapore Airshows."

But Biswas said the mood in the commercial aviation industry remains buoyant, with growth in air passenger numbers expected to remain robust.

Passenger numbers in Asia are expected by Airbus to grow by 5.6 percent annually, with China forecast to post double digit growth.

On Friday, Boeing announced an order for four 737 MAX 8 airplanes, valued at $440 million at list prices from Air Niugini. On Wednesday, the manufacturer announced a deal for 12 of its 737 jets with a privately-owned Chinese carrier Okay Airways, valued at $1.3 billion.

Airbus announced an order for six A350-900s, valued at $1.8 billion at list prices from Philippine Airlines.