John Drysdale, Director of Annadale Aviation and Senior Advisor to the Emerald Aero Group, has been confirmed as a member of the judging panel for the Aviation Industry Awards 2026, bringing extensive experience across aerospace business development, aircraft leasing, asset management, and airworthiness to Ireland's benchmark programme for aviation excellence and innovation.

Drysdale's career has taken him across the full breadth of the aviation industry, with experience spanning airline, MRO, airport, and aircraft leasing sectors. That cross-sector exposure, combined with a track record of supporting strategic growth and international industry partnerships, gives him a command of aviation operations and commercial dynamics that few practitioners develop across a single career. 

His leadership and board-level positions within the aviation industry reinforce a profile built on both strategic vision and operational understanding, equipping him to assess entries with authority across the full range of categories the Aviation Industry Awards encompasses.

His engagement with aviation extends beyond the executive level. As Vice Chairman of Limerick Flying Club and a student private pilot, Drysdale maintains an active connection to general aviation, pilot development, and aviation safety at the community level. 

That involvement reflects a genuine commitment to the broader aviation ecosystem and gives his panel contribution a perspective that reaches from large-scale commercial aviation and aircraft leasing operations to the development of talent and safety culture at the foundational level of the industry.

The Aviation Industry Awards, launched in 2014, spans 25 categories from Aviation Company of the Year and aircraft maintenance to aviation innovation, airline safety, aviation technology, and Aviation Rising Star. 

Drysdale joins fellow panellists Adam Bouchard of Nashville International Airport, Samantha Harding of SILC, Dr Kyriakos Kourousis of the University of Limerick, and Michael Treacy of Enterprise Ireland on a panel bound by strict confidentiality protocols.

The awards gala will take place on 3 December 2026 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dublin Airport. Entries close on 21 August 2026.

Visit the official Aviation Industry Awards website to explore past winners, review category details, and subscribe to the newsletter for insights and event updates.