Asia's biggest aviation gathering kicked off on Tuesday with an array of aerial displays and orders for China's first domestically produced passenger jet and Boeing, as the industry still grapples with a rebound in post-pandemic travel demand in the face of severe supply constraints.

The biennial commercial and defense-focused Singapore Airshow is attended by more than 1,000 companies from more than 50 countries, led by Western industry giants such as Airbus, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin and their Chinese competitors such as Commercial Aircraft Company of China (COMAC) and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

It's the first time Singapore is opening the event to the public since 2020, when a scaled-down version went ahead as the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting.

Russian companies such as Russian Helicopters and Irkut that attended past editions of the show are not participating this year amid the war in Ukraine. However, Israeli companies Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which dropped out of the Dubai Airshow in November amid the flare-up of the Israel-Palestine conflict in Gaza, are in attendance.

Trade delegates donned hats and sunglasses on a hot, clear day to watch flying displays featuring military aircraft from Singapore, Australia, India, Indonesia, South Korea and the United States, as well as the COMAC C919 commercial jet and an Airbus A350-1000 powered by 35% sustainable aviation fuel.

COMAC, which brought its self-developed C919 narrow-body jet outside Chinese territory for the first time to the show, posted the first aircraft orders of the event on Tuesday morning. China's Tibet Airlines finalized an order for 40 C919 single-aisle planes and 10 ARJ21 regional jets, and China's Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Group ordered six ARJ21s.

The C919 is similar to the Airbus A320neo and Boeing's 737 Max jets. COMAC designed many of the C919's parts but some of its key components, including its engine, are still sourced from the West.

The orders come as COMAC attempts to position itself as a viable option for single-aisle jets, as companies like Boeing and Airbus grapple with a backlog of orders.

The company has received over 1,000 orders for C919, according to Chinese media, although the plane is currently only certified in mainland China. Four C919s are currently operational with China Eastern Airlines.

Royal Brunei Airlines later announced a firm order for four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, while the U.S. planemaker also held a signing ceremony to mark a recently placed order for 45 of the wide-body planes by Thai Airways.

Given its timing early in the year, there are typically fewer major order announcements at the Singapore Airshow than at its counterparts in Paris, Farnborough and Dubai.

By the end of 2023, travel demand had made a near-full recovery from pre-pandemic levels in 2019, with domestic travel running 4% higher than pre-COVID-19 levels and the international market lagging at 88% mostly because of China's slower rebound, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) data.

"We see 2024 as a real return to normal," said Steven Townend, the CEO of Singapore-based aircraft lessor BOC Aviation. "The industry is growing, airlines are making money again on a global basis. For 2024, we're really positive."

Subhas Menon, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, said that this year's show was "back in full swing."

"The Singapore Airshow is a good opportunity for exhibitors to show off the direction they're going, in terms of technology like autonomous vehicles and so forth," Menon said.

He said passenger loads in the region are nearly back to pre-COVID-19 levels, and that Asia Pacific is expected to account for 50% of the growth in air travel demand this year.

Supply chain struggles

Major suppliers, planemakers and engine producers have struggled to keep up with the rebound in demand after the sharp downturn during COVID-19 led to job losses, freight snarls and an industry skills shortage.

U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing will not be featuring any passenger jets at the show. The firm is under scrutiny after the midair blowout of a cabin panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max on Jan. 5 led the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take the unprecedented step of freezing production of its bestselling single-aisle plane at 38 per month.

Airbus this month announced a further delay in entry to service of its long-range A321XLR single-aisle jet to the third quarter from the second. Suppliers told Reuters that Airbus is producing about 50 A320neo family jets a month compared with a production plan that had foreseen 58 by end-2023.

Christian Scherer, the CEO of Airbus' commercial aircraft business, said on Tuesday there were many "pinch points" in the aerospace supply chain.

"The production ramp-up is putting pressure into the supply chain everywhere and it is our job to tackle it," he told reporters, adding that Airbus had deployed several dozen supply chain engineers to unlock bottlenecks.

Flying display

The flying display – a highlight of the biennial air show – saw Singapore's Air Force perform an aerial display with an F-15SG fighter jet and an AH-64D Apache helicopter. COMAC's C919 and Airbus' widebody A350-1000 aircraft also performed fly-pasts.

The Indian Air Force's Sarang helicopter team showed off an array of aerial acrobatics, while the Indonesian Air Force's Jupiter and the Australian Air Force's Roulettes performed acrobatic maneuvers, including crossovers and drawing giant hearts in the sky.

The South Korean Air Force's Black Eagles, flying in their acrobatic aircraft T-50B, were the finale of Tuesday's aerial display, performing maneuvers including the drawing of the Taegeuk – the yin-yang circle found on the South Korean flag – via the jets' smoke system.

The U.S. Air Force's B-52 Stratofortress is expected to make a fly-past on Thursday.

The production issues are delaying the ability of airlines to replace older jets with more fuel-efficient models as the industry looks to meet its goal of "net zero" emissions by 2050.

Airlines are looking to buy as much sustainable aviation fuel as possible to reduce their carbon emissions, even though it costs up to five times as much as conventional jet fuel.

Airbus is using a blend of sustainable aviation fuel made of feedstock from cooking oil and tallow, together with conventional jet fuel for the A350-1000 aircraft in its aerial display.

In Singapore, travelers will bear the cost of the transition toward green jet fuel, its transport minister said on Monday, announcing the city-state's plans for a levy on departing flight ticket prices from 2026.

Hyundai's U.S.-based Supernal unit, which specializes in advanced mobility aircraft such as air taxis, is also an exhibitor in this year's airshow.

The event, which runs from Feb. 20 to 25, is expected to draw more than 50,000 visitors, with the last two days open to the general public.