Society of British Aerospace Companies
UK trade association

The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC, formerly Society of British Aircraft Constructors) was the UK's national trade association representing companies supplying civil air transport, aerospace defence, homeland security and space. As of October 2009 SBAC merged with the Defence Manufacturers Association and the Association of Police and Public Security Suppliers to form the ADS Group.
The SBAC organises the Farnborough Airshow.
Representation
With its regional partners, SBAC represents over 2,600 companies, assisting them in developing new business globally, facilitating innovation and competitiveness and providing regulatory services in technical standards and accreditation. Inside the organisation is the British Aviation Group and the UK Space Agency.
History
Formation
On 29 March 1915 a number of British aircraft manufacturers and industrialists met to arrange a standards body and production pooling system known as the Society of British Aircraft Constructors. Notable among the aircraft participants were Herbert Austin, Frederick Handley Page, H.V. Roe of Avro, and E.B. Parker of Short Brothers. The group agreed to share their designs among a variety of 3rd party factories in order to be able to quickly produce new designs on demand. These factories joined ones being run by the government directly. In total over 40 companies joined the group when it officially formed on 23 March 1916.
The public source identifies “Society of British Aerospace Companies” as uK trade association. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Society, British and Aerospace.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7552399. VIAF identifies the subject as 159176257. The Library of Congress control number is n50075089. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2009, 1915 and 1916.
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This entry incorporates text from “Society of British Aerospace Companies” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.