Asian Aerospace Takes Flight

When the biennial Asian Aerospace 2006 opened Feb. 21 in Singapore, organizer Reed Exhibitions anticipated a record-breaker. Exhibition space at Changi Intl. Airport was expected to grow by as much as 20 percent. Attendance was forecast to jump past 2004's turnout of 27,000 buyers and 48,000 members of the public.

That kind of success would appear to make it easier to market the next show, regardless of where it is, Singapore — or Hong Kong.

A little less than a week before Asian Aerospace 2006 opened, Reed Exhibitions announced it would move its flagship international aerospace event to new dates in a new city, and turn it into a shorter, education-oriented event open only to professional attendees.

"Our feedback from exhibitors is that they would prefer a trade-only focus," stated Clive Richardson, senior vice president of Reed Exhibitions' aerospace and defense group, "so the event will concentrate on this sector."

To reflect these changes, the 25-year-old event will also get a new name. The Asian Aerospace Intl. Expo and Congress will be held Sept. 3–6, 2007, at the new AsiaWorld-Expo, adjacent to the Hong Kong Intl. Airport, which will be used for static aircraft displays.

Last October, a long-standing partnership between the Singapore Economic Development Board and Reed Exhibitions broke down when the Singapore government decided that this year's biennial Reed show would be the last, and that it would launch its own show on the same dates. At the same time, Reed officials said they would decide on Asian Aerospace's future location "at the right time."

And now they have.

Meanwhile, Singapore has proceeded with its plans too. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Defence Science and Technology Agency created a joint venture called Changi Intl. Airshow and Events, and hired a former Asian Aerospace show director, Jimmy Lau, to be its managing director.

The new company decided to hold the Changi Intl. Airshow Feb. 26–March 2, 2008 (occupying essentially the same dates as the existing show). Late last month, work started on a 40,000 square meter (430,000 square foot) air-conditioned exhibit hall on a 56-acre site less than a mile from the current tradeshow site.

Singapore signed on Aviation Week magazine to support the new show and produce a show daily, much as Flight magazine has for Asian Aerospace. (Flight, like Tradeshow Week, is a property of Reed Business Information, which, along with Reed Exhibitions, is a component of Reed Business).

All the changes are certainly giving longtime participants plenty to talk about at this year's show. While exhibitors have complained about conditions at the Changi Intl. Airport, but given Reed Exhibitions credit for drawing buyers, they wonder if Singapore can build a more exhibitor-friendly venue in time for the 2008 show. They also wonder how the Hong Kong show will be affected by the Tiananmen Sanction of 1990, which severely restricts the export and even display of defense and security products from the United States to China.

They also ask: How many major air shows does the world really need?

Until now, most major aerospace firms have had a strong presence at three major biennials, the Farnborough Air Show (in even-numbered years) in the United Kingdom, the Paris Air Show (odd-numbered years) and Asian Aerospace (even-numbered years). Two major Chinese events are the biennial China Intl. Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhulai and Aviation Expo/China in Beijing (both in odd-numbered years).

While exhibit managers at companies like United Technologies, Boeing and Airbus complain about the high cost of exhibiting at these shows, they acknowledge that they must attend simply because their competitors do.

Reed Exhibitions has stated that this exhibition will be different. The public will not be allowed in, the event will be shortened from the current six days to four, it will include a three-day aerospace congress, and there will be a greater emphasis on education and networking.

Still, the new Asian Aerospace will follow the Paris Air Show by three months and precede Aviation Expo/China by two weeks.

"At a time when all the U.S. aviation companies are screaming, 'We don't want another show,' Reed is creating a new one," said Tom Kallman, CEO of Kallman Worldwide.

The Changi air show has designated Kallman Worldwide as its official North American representative. Kallman said his job is to represent the show's interests in the United States and Canada, sell exhibit space and organize an American pavilion.

In his statement to the press, Richardson said, "The new calendar cycle for the show was designed to help our customers avoid clashes with other traditional events and also with newer events which are contributing to the proliferation of shows, which the industry has categorically confirmed it wants to avoid."

Regardless of whether exhibitors choose to go to either Singapore or Hong Kong — or both — over the next two years, conditions seem bound to improve. The current Singapore venue has one permanent exhibit hall and three temporary halls in which the air-conditioning is not always consistent. The area for static displays is in some cases a quarter-mile from the chalets that exhibitors use for entertaining customers.

"A new facility that might be cleaner, have real restrooms and electricity — we all have thought that would help the show," said Sal Cavallero, marketing support program manager for United Technologies.

That is what Changi show organizers said they hoped to accomplish with the new facility. Besides having air-conditioning (a necessity in Singapore's climate), the venue will feature a nearby static display area with 200 chalets for individual exhibitors, a new runway, 2,000 parking spaces and even Wi-Fi, a rarity in Asia.

But the new Asian Aerospace will certainly be comfortable at the new AsiaWorld-Expo, which is close to the airport and has 750,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, much of it column-free.

Richardson and other Reed Exhibitions officials were not immediately available for comment, but have said little in press statements about obstacles that the U.S. government might put in the way of exhibitors intending to display military products in China.

"Exhibitors are going to have trouble with any technology deemed sensitive by either the Department of Commerce or the State Department," said Cary Sun, director of InfoEx World Services in Hong Kong. "The Tiananmen Sanction not only restricts their export to China, of which Hong Kong is now part, but also prevents them from being locally displayed."

Sun is producing GOVSEC ASIA in Hong Kong under a licensing agreement with Natl. Trade Productions. He said exhibitors in the security and law enforcement fields have had trouble obtaining the necessary export licenses for his show.

"So, if ordinary metal or bomb detectors can't be exhibited," Sun asked, "what about the sophisticated aerospace components that have dual applications?"

Nevertheless, Sun pointed out, since China is the world's fastest-growing commercial aviation market and exhibiting conditions at other Asian air shows historically have been difficult at best, a Hong Kong location might make sense.

"Asian Aerospace's move to Hong Kong to serve and be closer to China is probably welcomed by the industry," he said, "and a step in the right direction."