Farnborough Airshow 2026: Dates, Key Trends & What to Expect for Aerospace & Defense Leaders

Introduction

The Farnborough International Airshow 2026 is right around corner. Taking place 20–24 July 2026 at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre in Hampshire, UK, the show is set to bring together the world’s leading aerospace, aviation, and defense organizations for one of the industry’s biggest biennial gatherings. Whether you’re an exhibitor, a program leader, or an enterprise technology decision-maker, here’s everything you need to know about dates, themes, and what to expect, including where to meet Cognitus, an IBM Company, and its A&D partner ecosystem on the show floor.

What Is the Farnborough Airshow?

The Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) is one of the two largest aerospace and defense trade exhibitions in the world, alternating years with the Paris Air Show. Held every even-numbered year in Hampshire, England, the event has run since 1948 and has hosted the debut of landmark aircraft including the Airbus A380, the Eurofighter Typhoon, and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
FIA 2026 runs across five days:

• Monday to Thursday (July 20-23): Trade-only days for industry professionals, exhibitors, and delegations
• Friday (July 24): ”Pioneers of Tomorrow”, a public day focused on families, students, and the next generation of aerospace talent, with free entry for under-21s, students, and apprentices.

The show typically draws tens of thousands of trade visitors and well over a thousand exhibitors from dozens of countries, spanning commercial aviation, defense, space, and advanced air mobility (AAM/eVTOL). Expect major OEMs such as Boeing and Airbus, engine manufacturers, defense primes, MRO providers, and a fast-growing contingent of AI, software, and digital transformation partners on the exhibition floor.

Why Should This Matter to Aviation Leaders?

For CIOs, CFOs, program managers, and procurement leaders in aerospace and defense, Farnborough isn’t just an airshow. It’s where the industry’s biggest commercial deals, defense contracts, and technology partnerships are announced and negotiated. It matters because:

• Deal-making at scale: Farnborough is historically where major aircraft orders and defense procurement decisions are unveiled, setting the tone for the industry’s next two years.
• Regulatory and compliance pressure is rising: A&D organizations continue to navigate regulated contract flowdowns, export controls, and government contracting compliance , making digital transformation and clean-core ERP strategies a board-level priority.
• Benchmarking against peers: With defense primes, Tier 1/2 suppliers, and technology vendors all under one roof, it’s a rare opportunity to see how competitors and partners are approaching digitization, AI adoption, and program governance.
• Talent and workforce signals: Skills shortages remain a persistent theme across the sector, and Farnborough’s conference programming increasingly addresses workforce readiness alongside technology.

In short, decisions made at Farnborough 2026 will shape aerospace and defense strategy well into the coming years.

Key Themes at the Farnborough Airshow 2026

Building on trends from the 2022 and 2024 shows, the Farnborough Airshow 2026 is expected to center on:

1. Artificial intelligence: Learn how A&D leaders are leveraging AI across the value chain, from AI-driven engineering, and contract lifecycle management, to MRO, intelligent pricing, estimating, and program management.
2. Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and eVTOL: Continued scale-up of electric and hybrid-electric aircraft, with next-generation aircraft previews from multiple manufacturers.
3. Defense supply chains and sovereign capability: Strategies to navigate geopolitical pressures that continue to push governments and primes toward resilient, diversified, and faster-moving supply chains.
4. Sustainability and the path to Net Zero: Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), propulsion innovation, and emissions reduction are a a recurring pillar of the conference agenda.
5. Digital transformation and clean-core ERP: As A&D organizations modernize legacy systems, SAP S/4HANA migrations, compliance automation, and AI-powered contract and pricing management are increasingly central to exhibitor conversations.

Conference programming, including dedicated theatres covering AAM, AI, propulsion, and defense supply chains, will run throughout the trade days, alongside the static and flying displays.

Meet Cognitus, an IBM Company, at Booth 1513 at the Farnborough Airshow 2026

Stop by Booth 1513 in Hall 1 to see how Cognitus and IBM are helping aerospace and defense organizations transform mission-critical processes from contract lifecycle management to government property management, logistics execution, cost management, billing processes and aftermarket services while maintaining compliance in a clean-core SAP environment.

Visitors can also explore how we are helping global aerospace and defense leaders adopt SAP Business Suite and build a practical path to the Autonomous Enterprise, backed by IBM’s cutting-edge AI and transformation journeys tailored to the complexity of government contracting and large-scale ERP environments.

Our team will be demonstrating SAP-integrated solutions purpose-built for Aerospace and Defense contractors, including:

• CIS-GovCon: An SAP-endorsed solution trusted by the world’s leading A&D contractors to integrate government compliance directly into SAP S/4HANA, helping to simplify audits, strengthen controls, and improve reporting.
• LambdaX CLM: Our FedRAMP-certified Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution automates the entire contract lifecycle, from award through execution, with AI-powered insights, built-in governance, data security, and stronger contract visibility.
• Intelligent Cash Application: Reduce manual cash posting with AI-driven automation that matches incoming payments to invoices, accelerates collections, improves cash flow visibility, and helps finance teams process receivables more efficiently within SAP.
• Real-Time Billing: Accelerate cash flow with automated, SAP-integrated billing that supports high-volume government transactions while maintaining full audit readiness.
• Aftermarket: Gain real-time visibility into service operations, inventory, maintenance, and logistics to improve fleet readiness, optimize spare parts management, and deliver better aftermarket performance.

Whether you’re modernizing legacy systems, planning your journey to SAP Business Suite, or looking to improve compliance and operational performance, our experts will be available to discuss practical strategies at booth 1513 and demonstrate how these solutions work together to support the entire government contracting lifecycle.

Book a meeting to talk to us at the Farnborough Airshow 2026.

Explore the A&D End-to-End Value Framework by SAP, Cognitus, Twenty5, and Cora Systems

One notable announcement heading into the Farnborough 2026 is the launch of a joint, end-to-end solution offering for aerospace and defense organizations, bringing together:

• SAP: The core ERP and business platform (SAP S/4HANA)
• Cognitus, an IBM Company: SAP-endorsed government contracting compliance solutions and decades of industry-leading implementation expertise for complex, highly regulated programs
• Twenty5: Intelligent Project Pricing & Estimating (iPE), connecting bid teams directly to delivery with zero re-keying and a full audit trail
• Cora Systems: project portfolio management (PPM) covering schedule, cost, risk, Earned Value Management (EVM), and IPMDAR reporting.

Together, this framework is designed to replace fragmented spreadsheets and disconnected point solutions with a single, connected system spanning the full program lifecycle, from the first cost estimate and bid, through contract execution, compliance reporting, and project delivery. By creating a single source of truth across the entire program lifecycle, from proposal through project delivery, it helps organizations improve decision-making, strengthen compliance, and reduce operational complexity.

Built on SAP Cloud ERP, the framework delivers three core benefits:

1. Faster time to value through pre-integrated solutions and industry best practices that reduce implementation complexity.
2. A unified, AI-ready data foundation connecting financial, operational, program, and compliance data in real time.
3. Embedded compliance and program visibility  to help organizations better manage contracts, costs, schedules, while boosting audit readiness for FAR, DFARS, DCAA, DCMA, and CAS compliance mandates.

Read more about the A&D End to End Value Framework in this blog.

Book a meeting with Cora Systems and Twenty5 at booth number 4114 in Hall 4, and Cognitus at booth 1513 in Hall 1 to catch live demos of the A&D End-to-End Value Framework at the Farnborough Airshow.

Registration Link for the Farnborough Airshow 2026

Ready to attend? You can register for trade passes, public “Pioneers of Tomorrow” tickets, or exhibitor information directly through the official Farnborough International Airshow site. Register for Farnborough International Airshow 2026

You can also visit the main FIA 2026 site for trade pass bookings, public ticket sales, hotel and travel information, and the latest exhibitor and conference program updates.