SACHEON — The Sacheon Air Show, South Korea's flagship aviation festival, returns to Sacheon in South Gyeongsang Province this year with an added focus on business. Demonstration flights by the domestically built KF-21 and T-50 fighter jets, aerobatics by the Air Force's Black Eagles display team, an aerospace and defense industry exhibition and export consultation sessions are expected to draw spectators while opening overseas market opportunities for Korean companies.
The 2026 Sacheon Air Show will run for four days from the 22nd to the 25th at Sacheon Airfield in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, according to the provincial government and the city of Sacheon on the 18th. The event is co-hosted by the Air Force, South Gyeongsang Province, the city of Sacheon and Korea Aerospace Industries. This year organizers have merged an aerospace and defense industry show into the program, broadening the festival into an industry event centered on business-to-business deals and export talks.
The industry exhibition is led by the Korea Aerospace Industries Association. It adopts the business-to-business program used at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition and will run export consultation sessions. The venue will house two exhibition halls covering 6,050 square meters and an 850-square-meter export consultation hall. About 130 companies from South Korea and abroad will take part in exhibitions, consultations and conferences, with booth participation free of charge.
Organizers are also expanding exchanges with foreign defense firms. They have invited air force chiefs of staff from 29 countries and about 20 buyers from major overseas defense companies classified as Tier 1 and Tier 2. Working with KOTRA, they are also seeking participation by European defense firms. The event will host a global air force commanders meeting, an international aerospace conference and the Korean Aircraft Technical Cooperation Group and Supply Management Group meetings.
Air displays for the general public are also planned. The domestically built KF-21 and T-50 will fly demonstration sorties and their weapons will be on display, while the Air Force's Black Eagles and invited foreign teams perform aerobatics.
Educational and hands-on programs for young people have been expanded. A rocket pitch competition hosted by Gyeongsang National University and special lectures by aerospace influencers are new additions. On the 24th, the fourth Sacheon Aerospace Education Festival will be held at Sacheon Gymnasium. Evening cultural events will be linked to the show to support local businesses.
To accommodate visitors, organizers are adding rest areas, restrooms and food courts at the venue and running direct shuttle buses. Additional temporary parking has also been secured. Working with the Korea AeroSpace Administration, organizers plan to develop Sacheon into an aerospace hub comparable to Toulouse, France, and to build the air show into an event that supports Korean companies expanding abroad.
"The 2026 Sacheon Air Show will go beyond a simple spectacle to become a global business arena for South Korea's aerospace and defense industries," an official at the joint operations headquarters said. "We will make this a successful event that achieves both the early realization of an aerospace complex city and the revitalization of the local economy."
