Farnborough Air Show 2024 – Full Show Round Up

What a brilliant week the WEAF Team & Exhibitors had at the Farnborough International Air Show 2024. The WEAF stand and exhibitor’s pods looked great, doing a brilliant job of showcasing the South West’s capabilities, members network & exhibitors!

Day One:

The WEAF Team supported a continuous stream of visitors such as Katherine Bennett CBE – CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Gary Elliot – CEO of the Aerospace Technology Institute, Sir Michael Ryan CBE – Industry Chair of the Aerospace Growth Partnership and many more.

It was great to share an adjacent stand with newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the whole show welcomed the focus by the PM and his ministerial team as they learnt about the fantastic contribution the SW and UK make to the worldwide aerospace supply chain.

Check out our video on Linkedin here.

Day Two:

Tuesday was another bustling and successful day for the WEAF Team and exhibitors, highlighting the strength of the South West’s network and supply chain. The team was supported by the expertise of supply chain specialists Phil Curnock and Ian Davies.

From the opening bell the stand was buzzing with high quality interaction from industry overseas delegations and HM government Departments.

Several companies were enthused by the conversation to consider the value of WEAF Membership. WEAF joined with the other Regional Aerospace Alliances on developing future events with major OEM’s such as Boeing UK and MBDA.

The WEAF team really enjoyed the receptions held by Farnborough Aerospace Consortium, Invest Northern Ireland, Aerospace Wales and we would like to thank them for their hospitality and great networking.

Day Three:

WEAF continues to grow its relationship with new members Boeing UK Defence by supporting introductory meetings with the Boeing UK Defence supply chain, thanks go to Toyha Cox for taking time out from her busy schedule to engage with members. WEAF also welcomed representatives of the senior leadership team of GKN Aerospace onto the stand to network with members and exhibitors.

Sir Michael Ryan chairman of the AGP and CEO of Spirt UK was welcomed to the stand and joined a lively discussion on the future of the UK supply chain improvement processes. We look forward to a continued dialogue with all industry stakeholders.

Members both on our stand and visiting the show have fed back how busy the show has been and are looking forward to day four. WEAF continues to support on the stand and champion the South West!

The team send our thanks to Peter Bennett at Groveley Precision Engineering for a fantastic BBQ and raise a glass to celebrate his continued commitment to SC21 and receiving his Silver Award.

Day Four:

The final day started with a great breakfast reception hosted by Middlesex Aerospace at the Aviator Hotel.
From 9.00 am the WEAF stand was manic, hosting great networking, B2B buyer contacts and important discussions on potential future events with a number of prime procurement teams.

So much to follow up on and so much to look forward to over the coming months!

For the current WEAF team this has been the most successful show and underlines the importance of engagement and collaboration across the industry.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to all our incredible exhibitors who showcased their fantastic capabilities and we do hope you have enjoyed the show as much as we have.

Check out what our exhibitors had to say:

“In an increasingly competitive landscape the access granted by attending FIA 2024 with WEAF was invaluable” 

“Having the pod for the day, Wednesday, enabled far more collaboration and networking combined with the opportunity to promote the Defence BattleLab and the strength of the aero/defence cluster within Dorset.”

“We thoroughly enjoyed last weeks exhibition and a lot of this was down to you, the stand was inviting and in a prime location to meet with a variety of different potential and existing customers & suppliers.”

“The layout of the stand was excellent, as was the overall position in Hall One which meant we got a constant stream of visitors.  Thank-you also for all the referrals you gave me, and I’m getting lots of after show enquiries too.”

We look forward to Farnborough International Show 2026 – If you’re interested in joining us next time, then click here to join our interest list.