Singapore (AFP)

The Singapore Air Show, the largest in Asia, opened Tuesday in a moody mood as the airline industry expects to suffer the "negative impact" of the new coronavirus.

The fair, which is held every two years in the city-state of Southeast Asia, is an opportunity for hundreds of aeronautical companies to present their latest products and to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts with airlines. airline.

But the virus, which has killed more than 1,000 people in China and has spread to around twenty countries, is hanging over the show this year where visitors and exhibitors are fewer than in previous editions.

Singapore reported 45 cases of people who contracted the virus and the city-state raised its health alert level last week.

More than 70 exhibitors have given up participating in the show, including the American defense giant Lockheed Martin and the Canadian manufacturers Bombardier and De Havilland.

At least 10 Chinese groups have had to throw in the towel after the Chinese ban on visiting Singapore.

The organizers canceled a conference that was to be held as a prelude but maintained the show with exceptional precautionary measures. Access by the general public has been limited and participants are invited to greet each other with a wave of their hand or by bowing, rather than shaking hands.

Participants go through a thermal scanner and dispensers of antiseptic liquid are placed at key locations.

The heavyweights of the sector like Boeing, which seeks to recover from the crisis caused by the crashes of the 737 MAX model, and Airbus are nevertheless present.

The airline industry is already suffering from the decisions of many countries to close their borders to the Chinese in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

We have entered "a difficult period" and the airlines "will suffer a negative impact", the International Air Transport Association (Iata) told AFP even if it is still too early to predict the losses of the sector.

The tourism industry as a whole will "take a huge hit" because of travel cancellations by Chinese tourists, said Rajiv Biswas, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at IHS Markit.

The Singapore tourist office warned on Tuesday that tourist arrivals in the city-state will drop 25% to 30% this year.

© 2020 AFP