Aerial displays get crowds high

Singapore Airshow 2016

80,000 members of public flock to event over the weekend; trade attendance up 7 per cent

Madam Zarina Abdul Rashid woke up at 5am yesterday. So did her husband and four children.

They had zeroed in on one mission - to make the trek from Jurong West, where they live, across the island to Changi Exhibition Centre before crowds descend for the last day of the Singapore Airshow 2016.

They were among more than 80,000 members of the public who turned up over the weekend. The air show, which started last Tuesday, saw over 130,000 visitors in all, with a 7 per cent rise in trade attendance.

Prominent visitors included President Tony Tan Keng Yam and his wife Mary, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

"After missing the air show for so many years, we saw the programme line-up and finally decided to make it a family-bonding weekend," said Madam Zarina, 45, a clerk.

While they were among the early birds when they arrived at 8.30am, queues had already formed for the static display, which had more than 40 aircraft from 18 organisations across the business, military and commercial sectors. Visitors could experience what it was like to be in the cockpits of various planes.

The queue yesterday afternoon to sit in the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF's) F-15SG fighter was about an hour long.

Elsewhere, the crowd cheered and took photos as the RSAF and South Korea's Black Eagles aerobatic team put on some fine aerial displays.

Mr Ryan Tang, 21, flew here from Hong Kong with his mother for the weekend just to catch the event. "I saved money to come after I started working, because it's Asia's biggest air show," said the IT officer at a helicopter firm.

Queues for shuttle buses to and from the venue ran smoothly despite some complaints on Saturday. It took up to 30 minutes to get a cab. Last Tuesday, it took as long as 2½ hours to get one.

Singapore Airshow 2018 will be held from Feb 6 to 11.

byseow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Feb 22, 2016.
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