SINGAPORE — Just nine years old, Ho Gin Kiat was already on his second visit to the Singapore Airshow yesterday, where his favourite moment was when pilots from air forces around the world took to the skies to show off their moves.

Fresh from checking out the aircraft on display, the boy, who also visited the airshow in 2014, summed up his thoughts on the display succinctly: “It’s cool.”

His father, Mr Ho Yeen Khie, a 46-year-old engineer, elaborated on his behalf: “We’re just here to look at the planes, get some exposure and speak to the pilots.”

The duo were among the over 80,000 visitors who turned up at the airshow on the two days it was open to the public. The skies cleared yesterday, allowing the visitors to leisurely explore the attractions — displays of aircraft, aerial performances and meet-the-pilot sessions — at Changi Exhibition Centre.

As with previous editions of the biennial event, the highlights of the show were the aerial displays, this time by pilots from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), Republic of Korea Air Force, United States Air Force, French Air Force and Royal Malaysian Air Force.

The crowds starting pouring into the open plaza minutes ahead of the performance, searching for a prime spot, and were enthralled once the aerial ballet kicked off.

The sudden nosedives, mid-air twirls and even a high-speed flash-past orchestrated by the RSAF Apache attack helicopter and F-15SG fighter aircraft were lapped up by the boisterous spectators. Visitors expressed relief over the clear skies yesterday, noting that Saturday’s exhibition had been marred by wet weather.

“The good thing is the weather is fine today, not like yesterday,” said Mdm Hazel Lim, a retiree in her 60s.

“The main pull for me was the Black Eagles. I read about them in the papers,” said Ms Joey Fung, 29.

The Black Eagles Aerobatic Team from Korea are performing at the Singapore Airshow for the second time, after impressing the crowds in the 2014 edition. But Ms Fung lamented the long queues at the static display area: “The queues were really long. We picked the shortest one and it was a half-an-hour wait.”

The six-day airshow started last Tuesday for trade visitors, and only opened to the public for the weekend. The number of public visitors was capped at 85,000 by organiser Experia Events. Traffic in and out of the venue was smooth, with shuttle buses — running between the event venue and the Singapore Expo — and cabs arriving consistently.

This was a far cry from the rough start on the first day, which saw trade visitors and exhibitors seeing red over waits that ran as long as two-and-a-half hours in the cab queue.

Experia Events had banned taxi bookings to manage congestion. Visitors without cars had to queue for a cab, or hop onto shuttle buses.

The situation improved after the organiser increased the frequency of shuttle buses, and worked with the authorities and taxi companies to encourage cabbies to head to the event venue.

This year’s Singapore Airshow saw 51 business deals inked — a 16 per cent increase from its last edition in 2014 — with a growing proportion of these contracts involving aircraft-leasing companies and low-cost carriers.

The next airshow will be held in 2018 from Feb 6 to 11.