Posted by Jonathan
Since its first show in 1948, the Farnborough International Airshow has been the global trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries. All the major brands including Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Gulfstream and Lockheed Martin attend the show to demonstrate their aircraft. After a 3 year hiatus (due to the Covid pandemic), 2022 marked the return of the Farnborough International Airshow. This time, the show carried even greater significance, with it being the first major aviation event to run since the Covid pandemic.
As a result, the AVSpares team took the opportunity to attend the show (to the delight of a number of team members). There was so much to see and review at the show, so we asked our team to highlight just a few of things that really stood out to them:
Embraer
Embraer was one manufacturer that really stood out at the airshow, for all the right reasons. Their stand consisted of an incredibly diverse pool of aircraft. From the Super Tucano through to the C-390 and E190-E2, they had the military, commercial and business sectors covered. We also noticed just how engaged they were with the show, allowing all visitors to walk through their E190-E2 and view the cabin. Below is a short clip of the E190-E2 landing after it’s air display at the airshow (sorry, it’s a short clip, we were all too mesmerised by what it was capable of).
Gulfstream
Gulfstream had four of their aircraft on static display, including the G500, G600, G650ER and the G700. It was our first time seeing the G700 in person, and it felt more reminiscent of a small regional jet than a business aircraft due to its sheer size. All in all, an impressive lineup, although a few of our team would have loved to have seen a flying demonstration from Gulfstream.
Boeing
Boeing attended the airshow with their new 737 MAX 10 and 777X, both of which took part in flying displays. One of the most unique feature was the retractable wingtips on the 777X which have been designed by necessity as the large wingspan on the 777X would cause issues with a number of gates not being wide enough (despite fitting the current 777).
Lockheed Martin
Winning the award for one of the loudest aircraft on display was the Lockheed Martin F-35, with the USAF having one on static display and the RAF using one for the flying display. The short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) was put on full display and shows the technological advancements in military aircraft. Also notable was how futuristic and smooth the F35 looked alongside an F15 and F16 (we know, that should be expected from a stealth jet).
The Future of Aircraft
One thing that Farnborough International Airshow does better than any other show, is demonstrate the level of innovation happening within the aviation industry. One of the most unusual and noticeable aircraft on display was the Vertical VX4. Vertical are wanting to create the most advanced eVTOL in the world.
BigJetTV
A final highlight for the team was meeting Jerry Dyer from BigJetTV. Gerry livestreams from a number of airports around the world and has helped bring huge amount of attention to the aviation industry. He rose to fame entertaining the UK during Storm Eunice, with his stream demonstrating the skill of pilots landing at London Heathrow (reaching 7.4m views!).
Overall, we found the Farnborough International Airshow incredibly insightful and it was great to meet up with current and potential users of the AVSpares platform. It’s clear to see that (despite covid), the industry continues to grow. Which highlights the need for Aircraft Parts and MRO sourcing to be as quick and efficient as possible.
