More than 600 finance leaders confirmed for Farnborough International Airshow

More than 600 finance and investment leaders from 350 organisations are confirmed to attend Farnborough International Airshow 2026, as the event launches a dedicated summit connecting global capital with opportunities across aerospace, defence, space and security.

The Aerospace Global Forum: Finance Summit will bring together banks, private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and other financial institutions with the manufacturers seeking funding.

Confirmed attendees include senior representatives from Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and UBS, alongside investment groups including Blackstone, Carlyle and Warburg Pincus.

Sovereign investors and public finance bodies will also be represented, including Mubadala, Qatar Investment Authority, Temasek International, the British Business Bank, UK Export Finance and the London Stock Exchange.

Farnborough International said the attendees had identified a wealth of reasons for participating, from market insight and business partnerships to visibility of new projects.

Connecting capital with industrial growth

Across the industries, companies are under pressure to embrace new technology and invest in production capacity, while facing the challenges of high costs, disrupted supply chains and a lack of skilled workforce. Accessing capital now could help businesses make the changes today that will ensure their tomorrow.

Small and medium businesses, in particular, often find it difficult to access the capital they need. Putting them in front of the right people could offer the opportunity they need to finally scale and succeed.

Gareth Rogers, chief executive of Farnborough International, said finance and investment had long been underlying themes of the airshow, but the new summit would give them greater prominence.

“The launch of the Finance Summit is our response to the growing demand from investors seeking direct access to high-quality market insight, business development opportunities and emerging innovation across aerospace, defence and space,” he said.

The summit will include keynote sessions, panel discussions and roundtables. There will also be dedicated networking between finance organisations and companies, ranging from major international primes to early-stage businesses.

Finance takes a larger role at Farnborough

The event comes as aerospace and defence companies seek new sources of investment to support rising demand and industrial expansion.

For the UK, access to private and public capital is becoming particularly important as government and industry look to increase defence production, strengthen domestic supply chains and accelerate the development of dual-use technologies.

The Finance Summit forms part of the Aerospace Global Forum at Farnborough International Airshow, which takes place at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre in Hampshire.

Farnborough International said the initiative was intended to establish longer-term relationships between investors and industry, rather than provide a one-off meeting point during the airshow.