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SINGAPORE: The Singapore Airshow opens its doors to the public this weekend and it's proving to be a crowd-puller as tickets for the first day were sold out.
However, the biennial airshow has drawn some mixed reviews this time round.
As soon as doors opened at 9.30 am on Saturday, the crowd started streaming in.
Those who were at the previous airshow said security clearance was smoother this time round.
More facilities and manpower have also been put in place to reduce waiting time.
Once inside, visitors were treated to a static display of aviation equipment as well as a mix of the new and old in the aviation industry.
The F-111 owned by the Australian Airforce is making its last appearance in Asia. It's a plane that is designed to give maximum speed. It can travel up to two times faster than the speed of sound. Also, it takes just under two minutes to travel from one end of Singapore to the other.
Typically, the air-show attracts over 90,000 visitors over the two days it is opened to the public.
But this year, organisers said that they have decided to cap the number of visitors at 60,000.
This is to give more room for spectators to enjoy the sights and sounds, especially when it comes to the aerial display.
This year's aerial display showcased solo and paired performances from the Republic of Singapore Airforce, Korean Aerospace Industries and making its debut - the A-10 Thunderbolt 2 from the US Airforce.
Visitors can also look forward to a giant family-oriented carnival where organisers of the Youth Olympic Games are drumming up support for the upcoming Games in August.
The visitors had mixed reactions about this year's airshow.
One of them said: "Two years ago, there were more fighters and we could get really close to the fighter planes. For this year, we have to stand behind the barricades. I hope they can invite the Black Knights again because Black Knights makes Singapore proud.
“The airshow is quite interesting, because we don't find much of the airshows in much of the countries,” said another visitor.
"I hope for next year's airshow, there will be more fighter jets passing through because we really did not see much for this year. You only see a few of them and just doing a few turn-overs here and there and then that's it. Hopefully there will be more action in the air,” said a visitor.
However, organisers are optimistic that ticket sales will pick up.
The Singapore Airshow ends on Sunday.
The next one is slated for 14 February 2012. - CNA/vm
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