Alabama aerospace achieves major success at Singapore Airshow debut

Alabama’s aerospace industry is poised for additional growth, following a week of successful recruitment efforts at the Singapore Airshow.

The Alabama Department of Commerce team held meetings with prospects, took part in presentations on emerging technologies and supported the state’s aerospace and aviation firms that were also participating in the event.

It was the first time Alabama has been an exhibitor at the Singapore Airshow, which is generally considered the world’s third largest behind those in Paris and Farnborough. It also marked the first time Alabama co-exhibited with another state, as it shared a booth with Georgia.

The Commerce Department has been in discussions with several Southeastern U.S. states to explore how coordinated trade programs could better support Alabama’s exporters while also reducing costs, said Christina Stimpson, chief officer of Commerce’s Global Business Office.

“The Singapore Airshow was our first opportunity to come together and co-exhibit, and it has proven to be a successful model for collaboration,” she said. “The Alabama-Georgia booth has delivered clear benefits to our respective companies and has demonstrated the value of a unified, regional approach to international trade.”

Given the success, plans are underway to pursue and expand this model with other Southeastern states at future international trade events, Stimpson said.

The Singapore Airshow’s business portion set an attendance record with 65,000 trade visitors representing more than 130 countries and over 1,100 companies. The biennial event included the inaugural Space Summit, which focused on the robust global space sector, and it also spotlighted trending innovations in the aerospace and defense industries.

A strong theme this year was artificial intelligence, with software and robotics featured prominently in maintenance, repair and overhaul operations and in the burgeoning unmanned aerial vehicles sector, said Bob Smith, the Commerce Department’s aerospace specialist.

“With air traffic growing worldwide at a rate of 3.6 percent annually, there is extensive experimentation with AI to battle chronic bottlenecks in the supply chain, inventory control and inspection platforms, all which have plagued the aviation industry for several years,” he said.

Sustainable aviation fuel also was a hot topic as airlines are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint, especially in the face of increased worldwide demand for air travel, he added.

“It was a good show for investment and recruitment,” Smith said. “From meetings at the show, eight good leads were identified, and one solid project was initiated with a request for information in the UAV sector.”

This was a record-breaking year in terms of U.S. participation in the Singapore Airshow, as 99 U.S. companies exhibited and 27 states were represented, said Beau Lore, senior international project manager for the Commerce Department.

Three Alabama aerospace companies were co-exhibitors in the Alabama-Georgia booth, and they benefited from kiosk space, as well as market research and other networking support provided by the Commerce Department. The companies – Cummings Aerospace and FMS Aerospace, both of Huntsville and Birmingham-based Phoenix Global Aviation Services – were selected through an application process.

“The three Alabama co-exhibitors benefited from a full roster of meetings and networking opportunities,” Lore said. “Before and during the event, they were able to access the AeroConnect B2B Matchmaking Platform to request meetings and respond to meeting invitations. In addition, Kallman Worldwide organized events such as the Asian Buyers Delegation Welcome Reception, the USA-Indo Pacific B2B Networking Mixer and the USA VIP Global Reception for networking with high-ranking industry officials, international VIPs and other distinguished guests.”

Alabama trade representatives in Korea and Japan also assisted with networking opportunities, he said.

The Korea representative provided information on top Korean companies attending the airshow and the Japanese representative arranged for 11 meetings between the Alabama firms and Japanese companies and business groups.

“Networking also took place between the Alabama and Georgia co-exhibitors, with follow-up planned, highlighting the potential for further regional collaboration among Southeastern U.S. states,” Lore said.

This story originally appeared on the Made in Alabama website.