Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY

Registered charity 313708 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The principal objects of the Society are the general advancement of Aeronautical Art, Science and Engineering and more particularly promoting that species of knowledge which distinguishes the profession of Aeronautics.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · Other Charitable Purposes · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£6.3m
Latest spending
£6.2m
Registered
1963
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity generated a net surplus of £458,203 for the year, with total income of £6,305,730 and total expenditure of £6,161,851. Per the trustees' report, free reserves stood at £2,984,915, which exceeds the stated policy target of £2,451,384, and unrestricted funds carried forward represent approximately 30 months of operating expenditure.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Related-party transaction: The Society charged its subsidiary company Aeronautical Trading Limited £314,024 in respect of administrative expenses which represents an allocation of overheads from the Society.
“In 2025, The Society charged its subsidiary company Aeronautical Trading Limited £314,024 (2024: £359,709) in respect of administrative expenses which represents an allocation of overheads from the Society.” — page 36
“As at 31 December 2025, the Aeronautical Trading Limited owed the charity £524,087 (2024: £88,630).” — page 36
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Aeronautical Trading Limited owed the charity £524,087 as at 31 December 2025.
“In 2025, The Society charged its subsidiary company Aeronautical Trading Limited £314,024 (2024: £359,709) in respect of administrative expenses which represents an allocation of overheads from the Society.” — page 36
“As at 31 December 2025, the Aeronautical Trading Limited owed the charity £524,087 (2024: £88,630).” — page 36
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Pension scheme deficit: £982k
“the actuarial valuation shows a deficit of £982k (2019: £1,294k).”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Aeronautical Trading Limited
“Aeronautical Trading Limited (registered number 03243525) is the only trading company and its results, assets and liabilities are included in the consolidated accounts.” — page 47
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Crowe U.K. LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Property (HM Land Registry)

4 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (1 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2025)

Total income
£6.3m
Total spending
£6.2m
Cost of raising funds
£626k
Reserves (reported)
£12.4m
Employees
60

Reported reserves equal ~24.2 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (78% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 9.9% of total income — above the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Australia · Belgium · Canada · Cyprus · France · Germany · Hong Kong · India · Ireland · Isle Of Man · Italy · Japan

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2025£6.3m£6.2m
31/12/2024£6.2m£5.8m
31/12/2023£5.9m£4.9m
31/12/2022£5.8m£4.7m
31/12/2021£4.4m£3.7m

Common questions

Is ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity generated a net surplus of £458,203 for the year, with total income of £6,305,730 and total expenditure of £6,161,851. Per the trustees' report, free reserves stood at £2,984,915, which exceeds the stated policy target of £2,451,384, and unrestricted funds carried forward represent approximately 30 months of operating expenditure. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Crowe U.K. LLP.

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
DEVELOPMENTS IN LITERACY UK (UK)2£20k
THE JULIA RAUSING TRUST1£1.4m
MISSION441£810k
THE SINO-BRITISH FELLOWSHIP TRUST1£231k
ROYAL COMMISSION FOR THE EXHIBITION OF 18511£175k
THE HEALTH FOUNDATION1£150k
ROSETREES1£94k
THE NUFFIELD FOUNDATION1£66k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
ROYAL AERONAUTICAL SOCIETY£6.3m—0unclear—no doubt
ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY FY2025£7.1m£80,001 - £90,0003unclear—no doubt
ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY FY2024£2.3munclear—unclear—no doubt
THE ROYAL AIR FORCE CLUB FY2025£13.1m£170,000 - £179,999—below—no doubt
ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY FY2024£1.7m——unclear—no doubt
THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON FOR IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE (COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ROYAL SOCIETY) FY2025£157.6m—52above—no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.