The Farnborough Air Show created a large number of leads for UK business, according to trade body the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium (FAC).
Being the first show for four years due to the pandemic there was much pent-up trade that led to a number of international deals and agreements.
FAC acts as a trade body for hundreds of UK businesses, mainly centred in the south and south-east, but also across the country and abroad.
Its clients in the aerospace, aviation, space and defence sectors - as well as their supply chains - saw welcome interest in their products and services.
FAC itself signed deals with the Ohio Aerospace Institute in the US and the Aviation Valley Cluster in Poland, as well as having a productive meeting with the King of Malaysia
Alan Fisher, FAC chief executive officer, said: “It’s been four long years since the last show and everyone was apprehensive about how it would go.
“But if our experience and those of our members is anything to go by then a huge number of leads were generated.
“Even if only a percentage of those turn into business, it will represent a huge boost for the economy.
“We were able to sign two deals ourselves, with similar organisations in Ohio in the US and in Poland.
“These organisations are based in their respective countries’ centres of aerospace – just like us.
“There is a lot of potential business to come from these agreements and we’ll be pushing hard on behalf of our members.
“Another great meeting we had was with the King of Malaysia, Sultan Abdullah of Pahang.
“He had sought out the FAC and we enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion about aerospace in our respective countries and hemispheres.
“While we accept that there are many difficulties in the industry with energy prices and the push to net-zero, the air show provided evidence that the sector has a capacity for further growth.
“Investment, innovation and creativity are hallmarks of sector and with the right policies in place we can help the economy grow.”