Selangor Aviation Show 2023
Selangor Aviation Show 2023
With more than two-thirds of the aviation industry based in Selangor, our challenge in the coming years is to leverage this position and offer high-paying jobs to the young people in Selangor. That was the main message I shared in officiating the 3rd Selangor Aviation Show at the Regional Aviation Centre in Subang this morning, alongside YB Ng Sze Han, Selangor EXCO for Investment, Trade, and Mobility, and YB Liew Chin Tong, Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry.
Education remains the key to achieving this, specifically through the vast untapped potential in technical and vocational training to meet the increasing demand of jobs in the aviation world.
For instance, Boeing estimates that because of increasing air traffic, the industry will need 790,000 more pilots and 754,000 more technicians over the next 20 years. That is more than 1.5 million in skilled workers in two subsectors within aviation.
We haven’t even started talking about air traffic controllers, staffers within the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul space commonly referred to as MRO, ground crews, baggage handlers and others.
I understand some of the world’s leading companies are now finding pathways to redevelop old technology to make engines more efficient, modelling more aerodynamic planes, reducing the carbon footprint of air travel.
Secondly, finding a more sustainable mix to aviation fuel by tapping into the possible opportunities in hydrogen and biofuels. While Electric Vehicles are the talk of the town, I believe we are not miles away from batteries and electricity powering airplanes.
I am glad that the Federal Government is looking to elevate the status and role of Subang Airport and represents a tremendous opportunity as the State Government plans to formulate a new administration called the Greater Klang Valley.
This will connect the cities of Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, and the soon-to-be-elevated Klang into a single cohesive administration, offering seamless government services through digitalization and automation, and offering the private sector better paying jobs through better technology.
This will open more avenues of growth for the private sector in the aviation space, as the state administration is committed to continuously improving our approaches and methods of governance, and I believe SAS2023 will open more room for these conversations to take place.
Of course, today, we are miles behind the likes of the Paris Air Show, Farnborough, or even the Dubai Air Show.
However, these are benchmarks which I truly believe we can not only meet but surpass in the not-too-distant future, especially in business travel and the use of light aircraft primed for Subang.
I am confident we can make Selangor and the Selangor Aviation Show Southeast Asia and Asia’s number one aviation show in the quality of visitors we attract by 2030.
