“Our future is in your hands.”
“Congratulations to the whole team.”
Comments filled ATI’s LinkedIn feed after the Farnborough International Airshow. Why? Read on to find out.
Amber Smith, Client Manager, and Jasmine Gilbert, Social Media Specialist, spent a day at the Farnborough Airshow representing our client, the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) – watching the strategy StrategiQ has helped support come to life on the stand and making sure social media reflected the full story.
Farnborough 2026 was a big one. Over five days, the show welcomed 141,580 trade and public visitors – up 41% on the last edition and nearly double 2022’s turnout – with commercial deals worth over $84.7 billion agreed on-site.
It was the kind of week where a world-first, Vertical Aerospace’s public eVTOL flight, briefly shared the spotlight with 353 aircraft orders and government ministers walked the halls. Meanwhile, Friday’s Pioneers of Tomorrow day brought thousands of young people through the gates, connecting the next generation with careers across aerospace, aviation, defence and space.
Images: The Farnborough International Airshow
Amidst all of that, StrategiQ was on the ground for one specific reason: supporting our client ATI both in person and online.
On the stand
Amber was in Hall 1, supporting ATI at their stand, built around Engineering Growth, the UK’s latest aerospace technology strategy. StrategiQ has been proud to support ATI’s mission to identify the investment priorities needed to strengthen the UK’s aerospace sector, boost innovation and drive future growth.
Farnborough visitors could hear from the ATI team and see the priorities it sets out reflected in the innovation on display around them.
As Amber put it: “Listening to the team behind the innovation and then seeing it brought to life on the stand made it all feel that bit more real.”
On the timeline
Jasmine made sure the story travelled well beyond the Airshow. Across 27 posts over the five-day event, ATI’s LinkedIn activity racked up 169,999 impressions and 13,310 interactions, earning ATI 380 new followers.
The standout was Day 1: a post covering Vertical Aerospace’s first-ever public eVTOL flight demonstration became not just ATI’s best-performing post of the event, but the highest-performing post on the account to date, generating 103,665 impressions, 55,165 video views and 5,465 engagements.
Many noted their surprised for how quiet the demonstration was and congratulated the whole team on their future-bringing efforts.
“Beautiful. The future is here.”
“Congrats to the whole team, big step!”
On Day 2: a post announcing Airbus’s flight testing for the Wing of Tomorrow Programme followed as the second-best performer, with 12,609 impressions and a 4.92% engagement rate.
“Our future is in your hands,” said one comment.
A third post launching ATI’s Composites Framework for Growth rounded out the top three performers, drawing comments from across the industry, including one describing it as “a really positive step for the UK composites sector,” with “a clear shift in emphasis from innovation alone to industrialisation and commercial scale.”
The comments on ATI’s posts told their own story – praise for the stand itself, partners celebrating being featured and industry figures reconnecting in the comments after meeting in person on the show floor. The kind of engagement that only really happens when online activity and an in-person presence reinforce each other in real time.
“The stand looks fantastic – really looking forward to seeing the UK’s aerospace story in action.”
The takeaway
Being at Farnborough mattered. But being at Farnborough to do justice to our client’s latest achievements, in real time, to an audience far bigger than the show floor itself, is what turned a good week into a standout one for ATI’s channel.
It was about showing up properly, in person and online, and letting the substance of the work do the talking.