The Singapore Air Show opened Wednesday on a 30-hectare site next to Singapore’s Changi Airport, housing a 40,000-square-meter exhibition hall, stuffed to the brim with exhibitors. AVweb correspondent Liz Moscrop reports there’s plenty of heavy iron out on the static and the major manufacturers are out in force in the chalet lines. The media room is buzzing and there are announcements throughout the day, with press officers literally coming in and shouting for journalists to join their conferences.

Highlights from Day One

Eclipse Breaks into India
There were a couple of big GA announcements here yesterday. Eclipse Aviation has broken into the Indian market and will supply 10 Eclipse 500 very light jets to New Delhi-based Club One Air. The first four aircraft are set for delivery this year, with the remainder due in 2009. According to Club One Air Managing Director Manav Singh the market in India is ripe for charter. "We plan to get the middle class of the country to start chartering aircraft," he said. Although operations will initially be in Delhi and Mumbai, Singh believes there are a further 25 smaller towns that may use the service. Club One Air may also support Eclipse 500 operators in the region and distribute the jet in India.

C-Series Alive and Kicking
Further up the food chain, Bombardier has said the C-Series project was never dead. Speaking at the show yesterday, Trung Ngo, VP of marketing and communications, said that the manufacturer must launch the C-Series program in 2008 to meet its targeted entry-into-service date of 2013.

60-Ship Order for Boeing
Boeing announced a new firm 60-airplane order from two Indonesian airlines -- Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia. Lion Air has taken 56 B737-900ERs, while Garuda added four 777-300ERs to its converted order for six 777-200ERs.

Rockwell Collins Upgrade for Air Asia
Air Asia announced that it is to add Rockwell Collins avionics to 60 new Airbus A320s, with options for 40 more. Its low-cost sister Air Asia X also took the avionics for its 15 Airbus A330 aircraft.

$42M Expansion for Rolls Royce
Rolls Royce’s Singaporean maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, Singapore Aero Engine Services (SAESL), is set to build a new 12,000-square-meter, two-story building in a $42 million investment. The new building will become operational in June 2009 and increase SAESL’s total floor space to 30,000 square meters, giving it the ability to service 250 engines per year.