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Vacationers in Singapore will soon be able to fly over seas, instead of through them.
Aerospace firm ST Engineering debuted the AirFish, a ten-seater craft that hovers around one to three meters above water, on February 3 at the Singapore Airshow.
“For typical boats, there’s a lot of turbulence at sea,” explains Leon Tan, vice president of ST Engineering AirX, the company’s wing that handles craft design. AirFish caters to travelers who “want point-to-point speed”, he said luckas it reaches a speed of up to 100 knots (116 miles per hour), which is comparable to a light aircraft.
AirFish uses ground effect, which occurs when air is compressed between a wing and a surface, which produces lift and reduces drag. This reduces how much energy the craft uses when it travels across the water, similar to how an albatross flies long distances with little energy. (The former Soviet Union is one of the biggest proponents of ground-effect vehicles, which officials call ‘ekranoplan’, and are being considered for use as military vehicles).
ST Engineering has already signed two partnerships for AirFish, including one with ferry operator BatamFast to run trips between Singapore and the city of Batam in Indonesia, with the first trips starting in the third quarter of 2026. An AirFish can complete the trip in 25 minutes, half the time of a typical ferry.
The company also announced on February 3 that Indian operator Wings Over Water Ferries will also charter and operate up to four ships in India by late 2026.
Tan, from ST Engineering, says the AirFish is part of the company’s shift towards original equipment manufacturing. Traditionally, it focuses on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO); the company is the world’s largest airframe MRO provider, with facilities across Asia, Europe and the US
With 2024 revenue of $8.4 billion, ST Engineering is the No. 34 in Fortune’s Southeast Asia 500 list, which measures the region’s largest companies by revenue. The company was founded in 1967, and originated in the defense industry of Singapore. In the last five years, it has expanded its portfolio to include aerospace and shipbuilding.
ST Engineering hopes to take AirFish to other destinations including Tioman and Desaru in Malaysia, Tan said luck. He believes that the ocean travel industry in Southeast Asia has a lot of potential for AirFish, because it has many archipelagic countries such as Indonesia, which consists of more than 17,000 islands, and the Philippines, which has more than 7,000.
The company is also experimenting with developing 24- and 36-seater AirFish crafts, which can carry more passengers on each flight, Tan said. It also intends to build 4-seater luxury AirFish crafts to cater to the wealthiest demographic.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
