We followed 20,000 aviation companies across 462 shows. Here is what we found

Airbus and Boeing meet at 26 shows. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman at 18. Aviation has its travelling circuits, and we mapped them by following more than 20,000 companies across the shows on our events calendar for 2026 and 2027.

The calendar also shows where those circuits collide. On 19 to 21 October 2027, MRO Europe in Amsterdam and NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas open on the same morning, nearly 9,000 km apart, and 43 companies are on both exhibitor lists. Six months earlier, in the week of 13 April 2027, MRO Americas in Orlando, AERO Friedrichshafen, LAAD in Rio de Janeiro and Modern Day Marine in Washington all overlap, with 2,324 listed companies between them.

We have already published the 50 companies at the most shows and the companies that sponsor them. This article is about the other 20,000: when and where they exhibit, which shows they share, how far they travel.

What we found, in short:

• Two shows in Paris list more companies (3,056) than the 20 aviation events in London put together (2,067).
• April 2027 is the busiest month for exhibitors, with 4,589 listed company appearances. January 2027 has 22 events and 237.
• Defence shows are 7% of the calendar and 22% of all exhibitor appearances. The typical defence show lists 196 companies; the typical airline or airport event lists 21.
• 58% of appearances are outside the company's home country. British companies exhibit abroad 85% of the time, American companies 39%.
• Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman share 18 shows. Airbus and Boeing share 26.
• 78% of companies appear at one show series and nowhere else.

Companies that travel together

The pair that shares the most shows is Airbus and Boeing, together at 26. That is less surprising than it sounds: each is at more than 50 shows, so they would meet often by chance alone.

The defence primes are a tighter group. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman share 18 shows out of 27 and 23. L3Harris and Raytheon share 19 of 26 and 30, and both share 18 with BAE Systems. Rivals in bids, neighbours on the floor.

Further down, the pairs are not rivals but a supply chain. SR Technics, the tool maker STAHLWILLE and the consumables supplier Farsound Aviation are each at six shows, the same six: Paris, MRO Americas, both editions of MRO Europe, MRO Asia-Pacific and MRO Middle East. A maintenance company and two firms that sell to maintenance companies, on one circuit. Fenix Aviation, TP Aerospace and Pioneer Aero Supply ride the same circuit; Regent Aerospace and Topcast match on all eight of their shows. The parts and repair trade has a fixed annual route, and its suppliers follow it. Space has one too: Rocket Lab and SPACEMAP, Innoflight and RBC Signals, Simera Sense and DHV Technology each share all six of their shows, built around Space Tech Expo Europe, SmallSat and SATELLITE.

The calendar by month and city

The month with the most events is not the month with the most exhibitors. May 2027 has 57 events, more than any other month, but only 1,552 listed company appearances, because May is conference season. April 2027 has 47 events and 4,589 appearances, with MRO Americas (806), AERO Friedrichshafen (878), SUN 'n FUN (579), LAAD (365), air cargo Europe (347) and Aircraft Interiors Expo (327) in the same four weeks. The other peaks are October 2026, September 2027 and June 2027, when the Paris Air Show alone lists 2,406. August 2027 has only eight events, but MSPO in Kielce (1,478 companies) gives it more exhibitors than February, May or December. January is the quiet month: 22 events, 237 listed companies.

By city, Paris is first by a wide margin, on the strength of two shows: the Paris Air Show (2,406 companies, the longest list on the calendar) and JEC World (690). London hosts 20 events, more than any other city, but 1,738 of its 2,067 companies come from one show, DSEI. Orlando (1,336 companies at 7 events), Washington (1,312 at 11), Amsterdam (1,166 at 5) and Las Vegas (908 at 10) follow. Two single-show cities make the top ten: Kielce with MSPO, and Bremen with Space Tech Expo Europe (1,078).

The United States hosts 163 of the 462 events and 33% of the exhibitor appearances. France hosts 11 events and 16% of appearances.

Which sectors draw the exhibitors

Defence shows are 32 of the 462 events, but 7,128 of the 31,793 appearances and 5,702 distinct companies. The median defence show with a published list has 196 exhibitors. The median maintenance show has 74, the median space event 51, and the median airline or airport event 21, even though airlines and airports are the biggest sector on the calendar with 108 events. Business aviation looks large because of NBAA-BACE, 742 companies at each edition and 77% of the sector's appearances; the median business aviation event has 11. Finance and leasing conferences have a median of seven.

Expos are 135 of the 462 events and 69% of the appearances; conferences are 255 events and 16%. 88% of companies appear in only one sector. Airbus and Boeing cover 12 of our 15 sectors each, Honeywell Aerospace 11, Thales 10.

Where exhibitors come from

Most exhibitors travel: 58% of company appearances are at shows outside the company's home country. American companies, the largest group at 2,978, exhibit at home 61% of the time, because most of the big shows are at home. French companies go abroad for 37% of their appearances, Germans for 58%, British companies 85%, Italians 89%, and companies from Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey and Sweden 99% or 100%: with no large show at home, every show is a trip.

The busiest routes are the United States to France (635 appearances, mostly the Paris Air Show), the United States to the Netherlands (544, both editions of MRO Europe) and the United States to Germany (311). Italy to France is fourth with 291.

The most international big show is MRO Europe: 96% of its exhibitors come from outside the Netherlands, from 43 countries. WTCE in Hamburg (93% from abroad), MRO Middle East (88%), MRO Asia-Pacific (87%), DSEI (82%) and Space Tech Expo Europe (81%) follow. AERO Friedrichshafen draws exhibitors from 50 countries, the Paris Air Show from 49, MSPO from 46. The most domestic shows are all American: EAA AirVenture (10% from abroad), SUN 'n FUN (11%), NBAA-BACE (18%) and MRO Americas (20%).

Airbus exhibits in 27 countries and Boeing in 19, with Embraer third on 17. Less expected: Shannon Engine Support, a spare engine lessor, in 13, and Gandhi Automations of Mumbai in 11.

Most companies go to one show

15,757 of the 20,946 companies (75%) are on exactly one list. Counting a show's 2026 and 2027 editions as one, 16,381 (78%) exhibit at a single show series and nowhere else on the calendar. 5,189 companies appear at two or more shows, 669 at five or more, 91 at ten or more and 19 at twenty or more.

The one-show share is highest in defence (76% of its 5,702 companies), cargo (73%) and general aviation (71%), where national pavilions bring hundreds of firms that exhibit nowhere else. It is lowest in helicopters (43%), maintenance and business aviation (55% each), where the same few hundred companies move from show to show. Among the companies we hold data for, aircraft manufacturers average 4.7 shows each, maintenance companies 2.6, consultancies 1.5.

Source: the exhibitor and sponsor lists on the Flying Engineer aviation events calendar and the company data we hold, for shows from October 2026 to December 2027.

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