Every couple of years a former RAF airfield in Hampshire becomes the centre of the aviation universe for five days. From July 20, it happens again — and the 2026 edition of the Farnborough International Airshow is shaping up to be the biggest in the event’s 78-year history.

Organisers expect well over 100,000 visitors. The exhibition halls sold out, then sold out a second time after a sixth hall was bolted on. And for the first time in years, the centre of gravity is shifting — away from airliners and towards hardware.

Here is what to watch when the gates swing open.

A defence show wearing a trade show’s clothes

Farnborough has always split its floor space roughly 60/40 between commercial aviation and defence. This year the balance moves closer to 50/50. Chief executive Gareth Rogers puts it down to geopolitics: with tensions high, defence firms have rediscovered the value of a shop window. Companies from Russia and Iran remain barred under UK government restrictions.

The international flavour is stronger than ever. Some 64 percent of exhibitors come from outside the UK, spread across 28 national pavilions, and 22 percent are appearing at Farnborough for the first time — many of them not aircraft-makers at all, but firms working in artificial intelligence, emerging technology and aviation finance.

The flying display

The star of the flying programme is the U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II demonstration, billed as its only public display in Europe this year. Around it, the schedule mixes the brand new with the beautifully old: an Airbus A350-1000 and a Bombardier Global 8000 alongside a Supermarine Spitfire and a P-51D Mustang.

The future of flight gets its own slot. Beta Technologies plans to fly its CX300, while Vertical Aerospace hopes to clear the final regulatory hurdles in time to demonstrate its VX4 electric air taxi. On the defence side, Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat — a “loyal wingman” drone built to fly alongside crewed fighters — makes its Farnborough debut.

Sixth-gen in the room

Farnborough is where aviation shows off its future, and this year the future is sixth-generation. The UK-Italy-Japan Global Combat Air Programme has just banked a £4.6 billion contract to push its next-generation fighter into full development, and its industrial partners will be out in force. Expect the big primes to spend the week jockeying for orders, partners and headlines.

The final day, July 24, belongs to families: a STEM-focused programme, a careers hub and an enhanced flying display, with around 45,000 visitors expected and free entry for everyone under 21. For five days, the future of flight parks on one Hampshire runway. Then everyone goes home to build it.

Sources: Aerospace Global News, Farnborough International, Boeing.