Finances at the company behind the Farnborough International Airshow took off after the bi-annual show saw deals worth more £81bn agreed, it has been revealed.
The accounts for Farnborough International, which runs the airshow as well as an exhibition and conference centre alongside two film studios, show the business achieved a turnover of £52.3m in 2024.
The results, filed with Companies House, also show the firm’s pre-tax profit totalled £14.1m for the 12 months.
The latest figures compare to a turnover of £42m and a pre-tax profit of £10.2m for the last year the Farnborough International Airshow was staged – 2022.
In the fallow year, when the show is staged in Paris instead, the company’s turnover totalled £7.8m and it made a pre-tax loss of £8.1m.
Sell-out Farnborough boosts finances
A statement signed off by the board said: “FIA24 not only sold out, exceeding budgeted revenues, but visitors to the event also exceeded 100,000 across the five days.
“FIA24 truly reminded the aerospace community that Farnborough hosts the premier global aerospace trade event.
“A reflection of the success of the event is that FIA26 exhibition space was already over 50 per cent sold by 31 December, 2024.
“Not only is this a great vote of confidence but also provides crucial cash flow for the business leading in to a non-airshow year.
“Whilst the airshow continues to underpin the wider business, 2024 saw continued growth in the venue business with revenue hitting £3.4m for the year.
“This was very slightly up on 2023, albeit in 2024, the venue lost nearly three months of selling time when the airshow took over the site.”
At the 2024 show, commercial and engine orders worth more than £81bn were agreed with the likes of Airbus and Boeing leading the announcements.
Airbus led with 164 orders while Boeing secured 118 orders.
Virgin Atlantic also placed an order for seven more A330-990s, raising its total to 19.