The Farnborough Airshow never ceases to surprise one: either its too hot and all the show airconditioning breaks down or it rains all the time, or entry to the event is a nightmare with very long, chaotic and slow moving queues. None of this happened at Farnborough 2010: wonderful and mildly warm days with bright sunshine, no rain (or hardly any) and best of all, excellently managed queues while the security checks at the entrance were highly efficient. Great show!

Farnborough 2010 (19-25 July) was sold out with an increased number of exhibiting companies (1450) compared to the 2008 show (1393). This year saw good engagement from decision-makers with 11 UK Government ministers, as well as ministers from overseas plus 70 delegations from 44 countries in attendance. With over 120,000 visitors on trade days and over 160,000 on the public weekend, this puts 2010 almost on a par with the total numbers for 2008, which were 285,000. At the end of the week, orders at the show crossed $47 billion! The show also contributes about £20 million to the local economy around Farnborough. The peak boom year was 2008 when the show saw $89 billion worth of orders. For comparison 2006 saw $46 billion worth of orders taken.

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