The Farnborough International Airshow opens on Monday as the biggest edition in its history, with a record 1,636 exhibitors, more than 600 confirmed investors and American firms occupying more than a third of the exhibition floor.
The headline numbers, released by organisers ahead of the show’s opening on 20 July, point to an event that has outgrown even its own considerable reputation. Exhibitor numbers are up 15 per cent on 2024, and 5,000 square metres of new event space has been developed for this year, including new outdoor chalets and an entirely new Hall 0.
For UK firms hoping to break into aerospace, defence and space supply chains, the most telling figure may be this: 22 per cent of this year’s exhibitors are attending for the first time. Farnborough is no longer a closed shop for the primes and their established suppliers, and more than a fifth of the companies on site will be walking the halls as newcomers.
The international pull is equally striking. Sixty-three per cent of exhibitors come from overseas, which organisers say makes Farnborough the most international airshow in the calendar, and there are 28 international pavilions this year, up from 21 in 2024. The number of countries invited to the show has risen by 46 per cent.
The Americans, as ever, have arrived in force. US exhibitors account for 20,537 square metres across the halls, chalets and outdoor exhibition, some 35 per cent of the site’s total exhibition space. For British SMEs, that concentration of US buyers, partners and primes on Hampshire soil is an export opportunity that would otherwise require a transatlantic flight and a very good travel budget.
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