Singapore Airshow 2012 starts at Changi airport

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Singapore Airshow 2012 starts at Changi airport

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Asia's biggest exhibition of aircraft and military hardware started in Singapore.

14 February,2012 07:07 pm

Aircraft and weapons manufacturers, military officers, arms dealers and airline executives rubbed shoulders as the 2012 Singapore Airshow kicked off in a vast hangar near the city-states Changi airport on Tuesday (February 14).Deals worth about $10 billion U.S. dollars were announced at the last show in 2010 and the number could well be higher this year as Asian nations ramp up defence spending.This weeks Singapore Airshow is likely to see U.S. and European arms makers Boeing, Lockheed Martin Corp and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) slugging it out for contracts as there is a growing appetite for military equipment in Asia, and beyond.Organisers said they expected the focus to be on unmanned aircrafts.We have some, well, 900 exhibitors from more than 50 countries around the world, and some of the 60 top companies (from the aviation industry), global companies are with us today. And we have this year, the land defence expo and the UMS which is the unmanned systems pavilion, which is a very new feature and thats because there is a lot of demand right now in this area, said Experia director of communications Marilyn Ho.On the civilian side, the show is likely to be dominated by Europes carbon emissions scheme and by defects plaguing the Airbus A-380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.The EUs Emissions Trading Scheme, introduced on January 1, has drawn howls of protest from airlines around the world, with China banning its carriers from taking part.Europes plan to charge airlines for carbon emissions could trigger a full-blown trade war with implications for plane deals and Europes crippling sovereign debt crisis.The Singapore Airshow ends on Sunday (February 19).