Got a tip off late last week that Royal Brunei are back at it again trying to get leases on Boeing 777s and that the carrier is currently in talks to try and secure some of Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-200s.

This perked my curiosity enough that I put in a call this morning to my old boss , Nick Ionides, who now works at Singapore Airlines. Didn't ask him about Royal Brunei because I know he's never going to confirm it but I did ask him what the situation is with the airline's fleet of 777-200s and Boeing 747-400s.

This is the response I got "by the end of this financial year, ie March 2010, we will have seven 777-200s and three 747-400s available for sale."

"As we've said before we expect to phase out the last 747-400 pax aircraft around 2011. No plans to phase out [all the] 777-200s in the immediate future" as some are being retrofitted for routes to China and India.

Royal Brunei presently uses Boeing 767s for its international services and is waiting to receive Boeing 787s that it ordered via a leasing company.

The fact that the 787 programme is delayed means that Royal Brunei is in desperate need for some interim lift.

This is because Royal Brunei's 767s lack the range to go non-stop to Europe so they have to do a stopover in the Middle East.  This puts them at a competitive disadvantage because it means they are right up against the wealthy Middle East carriers.

After speaking to SIA, I put in a call into Royal Brunei's PR department. Unfortunately, I didn't have any luck confirming the bit about talks with SIA. But I'll keep digging and if I get anything ...you can read it on this blog.

Royal Brunei has said publicly they are in the market for interim lift. It is a just a question of when they can get the aircraft. Although I would be surprised if the aircraft end up coming from SIA. Royal Brunei wants to lease 777s as interim lift and SIA is not really in the business of leasing aircraft. They much prefer to sell their older aircraft.

Some old things are still good. The Lockheed Martin C-130 is still relevant in the global military airlift market, especially in the wake of the woes facing the Airbus Military A400M programme.

Countries will still continue to order the latest variant of the aircraft, the C-130J, with Lockheed saying that it is in final discussions with an unnamed Asian customer.

As a treat, I managed to get a ride on one of the US Air Force C-130Js that were at the show.

It has been a pretty quiet airshow so far - the only major one I've been to so far where there has not been any big orders. CNBC were asking me about the mood in the industry when I appeared on their show this morning.

The F-15 has been flying for more than 35 years in air forces all over the world, but the line finally appears to be coming to an end with a lack of recent orders.

Boeing, however, believes that its latest variant, the F-15 Silent Eagle, will snag some new contracts from countries like South Korea, Singapore and Japan.

It is likely to remain a challenge to get new contracts, but the F-15SE will compete against aircraft like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in upcoming competitions and Boeing says that it will be a viable alternative.

We will know if there is any basis to Boeing's optimism over the next year.

The fact that European and US companies have been coming to Asia for a long time is not new. It is new when a venerable British company like Rolls-Royce moves the production of what could become its most successful passenger aircraft engine to Singapore to lower its costs and gain market advantage. You rarely see that - the only other real example I can think of is Airbus manufacturing its A320 in China.

It also benefits countries like Singapore that hope to develop an indigenous aerospace industry. Expect more countries to offer incentives to companies like Rolls-Royce as they try to attract investments in this part of the world.

Boeing believes that the F-15 is still relevant for air forces globally, and the entry of service of the aircraft into the Republic of Singapore Air Force will help them to spread that message.

I got a chance to sit in the F-15SG simulator as Boeing gave me a glimpse of what the RSAF pilots would go through in their training. It was a pretty interesting experience, to say the least.

We managed to catch up with Boeing's head of marketing Randy Tinseth, and he had some interesting comments to make about the 787 programme on video. He also told us a bit more about the delivery schedule this year for the aircraft and the prospects for the 787-3 variant.

They are more confident that they have overcome the obstacles that led to the massive delays, but I wonder if the flight test phase will lead to more problems. We'll know in the coming weeks.

Flightblogger and I met up with Didier Lenormand, head of freighter marketing for Airbus, yesterday to talk about the Airbus A330-200F and the future of the cargo market.

He made some interesting comments about the aircraft and Asian demand, and conversion of the older passenger aircraft into freighters.

Embraer plans to continue producing regional jets in China, looking to replace the ERJ-145 line in Harbin with assembly facilities for the E-190.

That would be an ambitious plan, given that the aircraft will be solely for the Chinese market. The Brazilian manufacturer would compete against the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China ARJ-21, which is now in flight testing and is Beijing's answer in the segment.

Most of the Chinese carriers that want to buy regional jets will buy the ARJ-21 due to political pressure. Embraer, however, is probably banking on the fact that not all of them will want to buy the locally produced (and dare we say it, inferior) aircraft.

In addition, the Chinese airliner market is likely to grow tremendously and the number of ARJ-21s produced are unlikely to meet this demand.

That could open a small market for the E-190/195 family of Embraer jets. The question then may be if political pressure or market forces wins out in the end in China.

Boeing, Sikorsky and GE could face sanctions as the US goes ahead with the latest arms sales to Taiwan.

Beijing, for the first time, has threatened sanctions against the companies that are involved in the sale. The deal includes 60 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters that are powered by GE engines, and Harpoon missiles that are manufactured by Boeing.

The sale was not unexpected - and it has not included the F-16s that Taiwan covets.

China's opposition was not unexpected either, but the extent to which it may go to protest the decision could have implications in the wider aerospace industry. Boeing, Sikorsky and GE all have long-standing commercial links with the mainland, and have said that it is a key part of their growth strategy in the coming years.

Expect this to unfold further in the coming weeks, and we will try to get a reaction from the companies at the Singapore Airshow.