Four aviation start-ups named finalists in World Aviation Festival competition

Four start-ups addressing AI-driven flight shopping, AI search optimisation, airline ancillaries, and airport boarding processes have been selected to compete in the World Aviation Festival’s annual Start-up Competition next week.

The live final takes place on Tuesday 13 October at FIL Lisbon, where each company will pitch its solution to a panel of industry leaders and investors. Hosted by Irra Ariella Khi, Co-Founder and CEO of Zamna, the competition gives early-stage disruptors a platform to showcase their innovations to more than 4,500 senior executives across aviation and travel.

The 2026 finalists are:

• Zerolook – a flight shopping API built to handle the volume of searches generated by AI-powered travel services.
• Bonafide – an AI alignment platform that builds context layers to help AI systems understand and accurately represent the brand’s business.
• Altitude – a travel technology platform designed to help airlines generate incremental ancillary revenue through paid premium cabin upgrades.
• Gate Stream – a solution that combines a predictive algorithm with proprietary gate signage to turn boarding into a competitive advantage.

The judging panel for 2026 includes:

• Cara Whitehill – Venture Partner, Thayer Investment Partners
• Martin Beitia – Head of Innovation, Design & Research, Iberia
• Walé Adepoju – Partner, Investor & Entrepreneur, IMDC / Oxford Innovation Finance
• Dee Waddell – Global Head of Consumer, Travel & Transportation Industries, IBM
• Massimo Morin – Global Head, Travel & Hospitality, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• David Peller – Founder, If Not You Capital

“We received 84 entries this year, with the four finalists tackling some of the industry’s most pressing challenges, from keeping pace with AI to ensuring a seamless passenger experience,” said Daniel Boyle, General Manager of Transport at WAF organiser Terrapinn. “We look forward to seeing their pitches next week as they compete for recognition as one of aviation’s most promising new ventures.”

This year also marks the debut of Ancillary Arena, a separate competition which gives five shortlisted start-ups, entrepreneurs and independent innovators the opportunity to pitch their ancillary revenue concepts to a panel of five senior airline commercial leaders.

The World Aviation Festival runs from 13-15 October 2026 at FIL Lisbon, bringing together airlines, airports, and travel technology providers for three days of keynotes, panels, and networking.

For more information about World Aviation Festival 2026, visit www.terrapinn.com/conference/aviation-festival.