Record numbers at 2024 Singapore Airshow as post-Covid boom raises hopes

A Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd. (Comac) ARJ-21 aircraft performs maneuvers during a flying display at the Singapore Airshow in Singapore, on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2024. The Singapore Airshow is Asia's most influential aerospace and defense exhibition. - Bloomberg

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Record numbers attended the trade section of the first fully post-pandemic Singapore Airshow this week, with exhibitors and delegates optimistic about the aviation industry despite suppliers' struggles to keep up with rebounding travel demand.

Close to 60,000 people attended the four trade days of the show, nearly four times as many as in 2022 when foreign visitors required daily rapid tests for Covid-19, and more than the 54,000 who visited in 2018. The 2020 edition was rocked by last-minute cancellations as the virus spread around the world.