Air Charter Expo Draws Over 2,200 Registered Attendees, Setting Third Straight Attendance Record
Why It MattersA third consecutive attendance record alongside a second, Europe-focused show points to charter's trade calendar expanding beyond its London base, with brokers and operators gaining a Continental meeting point.
What happened
Air Charter Expo (ACE), a one-day show on the air charter calendar, recorded more than 2,200 registered attendees, surpassing last year's record for the third year in a row. The event added an expanded aircraft static display, a new pavilion area with extra networking space, and a reconfigured conference zone.
More than 20 fixed-wing and rotary aircraft were on display, among them a Dassault Falcon 6X, a Gulfstream G700, an Embraer 135 and a Saab 2000. Every aircraft was fully accessible, so attendees could go on board.
The conference was hosted by The Air Charter Association (The ACA). Glenn Hogben, The ACA's chief executive, and Tobias Bretzel, show director of AERO Friedrichshafen, opened it by presenting a new additional exhibition, ACE Regional – Europe. It launches from April 14–16, 2027 as part of AERO Friedrichshafen and is organised in partnership with Business Air News. Hogben said the aim is to create a new European hub for the air charter industry, building on ACE's success, and that London Biggin Hill Airport is the established home of ACE.
Sessions covered the state of the market in 2026 across the business aviation, rotary, commercial and cargo sectors. Chris Mace, CEO of MaceAero and a member of The ACA board, moderated a panel on the viability of smaller aircraft charter operations. Julie Black, head of executive aviation at Hunt & Palmer and also a member of The ACA board, then hosted an 'innovation fireside chat' on how technology and innovation can support the future of flight.
Industry impact & what to watch
Attendance growth at a single-day trade show is a rough gauge of how many buyers, brokers and operators still value face-to-face contact in a market that does much of its day-to-day business by phone and message. Three consecutive records suggest the charter community is not drifting away from in-person events, and the walk-through aircraft display is the kind of format that remote channels cannot replicate.
The decision to attach a regional edition to AERO Friedrichshafen in a partnership with a trade publication shows the organisers treating ACE as a brand that can travel rather than a single London fixture. For charter, where demand, regulation and operator bases are spread across several countries, a Continental meeting point could shorten the distance between European operators and the brokers who place their aircraft.
The next milestone is the April 2027 launch itself, where exhibitor lineup and attendance will show whether the London audience carries over to Friedrichshafen.
