SINGAPORE — Aviation companies opened Asia's largest air show today with fiercely competitive campaigns aimed at coaxing China, India and other regional customers to splurge on superjumbos and sophisticated jet technology.

Airbus flew in the world's largest passenger plane, the A380, to awe potential purchasers at the Asian Aerospace exhibition in Singapore, while rival Boeing Co. urged carriers to consider acquiring the wide-bodied 747-8, a more fuel-efficient version of the old workhorse jumbo.

Other heavyweights such as the largest U.S. defense contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., Sweden's Gripen-SAAB, Dassault Aviation of France and Russian manufacturer Sukhoi, Brazilian manufacturer Embraer showcased cutting-edge combat aircraft for countries across Asia that are boosting their defense budgets.

"Asia is becoming a huge market for the aerospace industry," said Ghazemy Mahmud, the Malaysian-based editor of the Asian Defense Journal. "Countries here are developing swiftly, and their purchases of commercial and military aircraft are speeding up together with their economic growth."

The most lucrative clients look to be China and India. China's aviation regulator has said the country expects to buy about 100 planes a year during the next five years, while India's aviation sector is booming with an average growth rate between 25 percent and 30 percent in recent years.

This year's Asian Aerospace conference, which runs through Sunday, has more than 930 exhibitors from 43 countries. At least 27,000 trade representatives are expected at the biennial show, which is the region's largest but ranks third globally behind shows held in alternating years in Paris and Farnborough, just outside London. The event will move to Hong Kong next year, and Singapore plans to organize its own global air show for 2008.