Agreements signed to boost aviation and aerospace operations on Day 1 of Singapore Airshow

SINGAPORE – The Singapore Airshow opened its doors to thousands of trade visitors on Feb 3, kicking off a series of agreements and long-term investments in the aviation and aerospace sectors in Singapore.

A number of the agreements involve heavyweights such as aircraft engine supplier GE Aerospace, aerospace and defence group RTX, engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and aerospace technology firm Thales.

Here is a snapshot of the pacts inked on Feb 3:

GE Aerospace to pump in up to $300 million till 2029

To support its engine repair capabilities here, aircraft engine supplier GE Aerospace is investing up to $300 million here over five years from 2025 to 2029.

This will transform engine repair operations, said GE Aerospace, enabling improvements such as faster turnaround times.

It will also integrate advanced automation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled inspection technologies.

Other upgrades include new capabilities to repair different modules of high-pressure turbines.

There will also be an AI centre to develop maintenance, repair and overhaul and on-wing support services – featuring automated digital inspection and predictive maintenance technologies.

Noting that the investment supports new technology and repair processes, Mr Iain Rodger, managing director of GE Aerospace Component Repair Singapore, said that repairs will become more predictable in terms of time and cost.

RTX to invest $139 million in Singapore

Aerospace and defence group RTX signed several agreements with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), reinforcing the nation’s role as a leading aerospace hub in the Asia-Pacific.

Its subsidiary Collins Aerospace will introduce new maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities here to reduce turnaround times for its customers.

This includes the addition of Boeing 777X integrated drive generators, or electrical power systems, to support the aircraft’s entry into service.

Other products to support existing Boeing 787 jets – such as auxiliary power units, whose role is to generate power for on-board systems when planes are parked or taxiing on the ground – will be introduced.

These new capabilities will be fully operational in 2030.

Additionally, RTX subsidiary and engine manufacturer Pratt and Whitney will expand capabilities to service its fan drive gear system at its Seletar facility here, tapping into advanced automation and AI.

The system boosts overall efficiency, allowing engine fans, compressors and turbines to rotate at different speeds to achieve optimal overall efficiency.

For its operations in Tuas, RTX will expand its coating capabilities to improve the durability of engine parts exposed to extreme temperatures.

It will also expand its facility in Tuas by 25 per cent.

Rolls-Royce, EDB explore establishment of an AI Centre of Excellence

Rolls-Royce and EDB are looking at the establishment of an AI Centre of Excellence, which would see increasing use of agentic AI in power system applications. Agentic AI models are capable of independent reasoning and executing multi-step tasks with limited human oversight.

In an agreement signed on Feb 3 between Rolls-Royce Singapore, Rolls-Royce Solutions Asia and EDB, the parties also agreed to explore technological advancement to improve aerospace manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul operations in Singapore.

To this end, Rolls-Royce said it will explore potential development of technologies beyond existing programmes.

As part of the agreement, Rolls-Royce Solutions Asia, which is a subsidiary of the group’s power systems division, will also look to expand its capabilities to support regional growth of the data centre market.

In October 2025, the second phase of the Smart Manufacturing Joint Lab, a previously established research collaboration between Rolls-Royce, research agency A*STAR and Singapore Aero Engine Services Limited,

was launched

.

Rolls-Royce said that potential technological advancements under the latest agreement will build on such existing initiatives and aim to strengthen the Republic’s position as an aerospace and maintenance, repair and overhaul hub, in line with growing global aviation demand.

Singapore to become R&D centre for Thales inflight entertainment platform

Singapore will become one of three research and development centres, alongside France and the United States, for aerospace and defence company Thales’ inflight entertainment platform FlytEDGE.

Part of three agreements signed between Thales and EDB during the Singapore Airshow 2026, Thales’ inflight entertainment cloud centre of excellence – which was established in Singapore in 2021 to develop local expertise in cloud-based digital services – will ramp up its expertise in cloud, data engineering and edge computing.

Edge computing will allow advanced processing, accurate data collection and insights in real time on board, while cloud automation will cut down on manual operations.

Ms Emily Tan, country director and chief executive of Thales in Singapore, said these manual operations refer to traditional inflight system management tasks that typically require hands-on intervention, such as configuring systems on an aircraft-by-aircraft basis and performing diagnostics during ground maintenance.

“With cloud-based automation, tasks such as remote content updates and software deployment can instead be managed remotely, reducing the need for physical access to the aircraft and improving overall operational efficiency,” she added.

Thales said that in the next three years, 40 experts will provide technical and engineering support for FlytEDGE in Singapore, as well as develop new end-to-end services that integrate cloud computing, and edge computing. Cloud computing processes data in a centralised and remote data centre, while edge computing processes data near its source, for example from local servers.