Famed Farnborough Airshow opens doors for the first time since 2018

The storied Farnborough International Airshow kicked off on Monday just outside of London, marking a new milestone for the aviation industry as the show returned for the first time since the pandemic began.

The last Farnborough, in 2020, was canceled due to the spread of COVID-19. The Paris Air Show, which was last held in 2019 and which switches off every year with Farnborough, was canceled in 2021.

Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG’s free new biweekly Aviation newsletter.

Farnborough follows the Dubai Airshow in November 2021, which was the first major regional airshow of the pandemic, as well as February's Singapore Airshow.

Airshows offer planemakers, component makers, and others throughout the aviation supply chain the chance to show off their latest products and meet with airline executives to try and finalize orders or begin sales processes.

Major products are also sometimes unveiled or shown to the public for the first time at airshows. In Dubai last fall, for instance, Boeing debuted the new 777X, while Emirates revealed its new first class suite at 2017's show.

Nothing quite as new had been announced ahead of Farnborough, but the show did begin with a blockbuster order by Delta, which said it would buy 100 of Boeing’s 737 MAX 10 aircraft. Perhaps not coincidentally, Boeing will have its 737 MAX 10 on display for the first time, while rival Airbus will have its A350 and A220 on display as it works to persuade airlines to add to their order books. Both planemakers are expected to secure sales agreements with European and American carriers.

Elsewhere at the show, eVTOL aircraft and sustainability are expected to be major themes, with the latter underscored by a record-breaking heat wave rocking Great Britain during the first two days of the event.

TPG is on-site at the airshow and will be reporting daily, so be sure to check back for updates.