Airshow

Which month do you intend to travel in?- looking back through your posts I can't find that information

We‘re back :-). Had a great time.

We travelled on the Tube on Saturday because of the track works. It was a terrible journey. We then only travelled by taxi and back on the Heathrow Express. This worked, well.

Now we're planning a new trip and we're going to London and want to visit a great air show.

This was the first that popped up when I Googled UK airshow 2025: https://britishairshows.com/british-uk-airshows-2025-calendar-dates

One not on that list is the Bournemouth Air Show (trains from Waterloo)- which is the last weekend of August. I got to see that in 2018 or 2019 from a cruise ship (a very, very tiny cruise ship of under 500 pax) anchored off the coast, before we went off to the Kiel Canal and the Baltic.

A pretty special experience.

That ship is no longer with us, but the steamship Shieldhall goes there every year to do the same thing. Just sailing out of Poole Harbour on a big ship is one of those great maritime experiences- one of the largest natural harbours in the world.

For somewhere to stay, and this is a bit quirky, I would suggest the RNLI College at Poole.

Puh, what a loooong list. This takes a looong time to study.
I don't know a single place and I don't know whether it's a small or large air show. I still have a lot of work to do. Accommodation, train connections, etc. I'm curious to see if I can manage it.

Not all airshows are equal and you will need to research based on your aviation interests, as they vary greatly. For the example the Bournemouth one mentioned above is a 'general' local/seaside/holiday type of show.

from that above list, to help you decipher it:

If it it is classic WW2 warbirds that float your boat you need to be looking at Duxford, or if its the cold war RAF Cosford. The former is the home of IWM aviation collection which is a world class museum and where 1968/9 film Battle of Britain was shot. Cosford is the site of the Royal Air Force's (north) collection and has many unique prototypes and cold war types. If your interest is WW1 and interwar types Shuttleworth/Old Warden is the place this and is home many unique and fragile types from this period that are nearly all still airworthy. If it is modern and up to date from around all and the preeminent aerobatic teams from around the world, you need to be thinking about the Royal International Air Tattoo, at RAF Fairford.

you could narrow the list massively by disclosing your dates in London. Most places only have one airshow weekend a year.

Since insurance rates went through the sound barrier after the Shoreham airshow crash disaster which killed so many 10 years ago, many airshows have changed their shows dramatically and simplified them, and many have not survived.

But as said above, not all are alike at all. Many have become mostly static, such as Sywell which has morphed into mostly fast cars.

So, when is it, and what are you looking for?

How far from London will you go? Public transport or car?

I'm confused - you ask about the shows and then almost immediately say you're back. huh??

Royal International Air Tattoo, at RAF Fairford I searched for informations for this and was surprised. Sounds very good. Like this, I‘m searching for. BUT then comes another nasty surprise. Many accommodations are fully booked and the others are very expensive. Pity.

Stay in London, Reading or Oxford then train to Swindon for the special Air Show Shuttle Bus- which you book as an add on to your airshow tickets

From Oxford there is a normal service bus to Swindon for £3 each way- the S6 every 20 minutes.

Or stay in Cheltenham and get the Air Show Shuttle Bus from Cheltenham Racecourse.

Reading Central Premier Inn is available currently for a total of £311 for the 4 nights, the one at Swindon Central is £535 for those nights.

"Royal International Air Tattoo, at RAF Fairford I searched for informations for this and was surprised. Sounds very good. Like this, I‘m searching for. BUT then comes another nasty surprise. Many accommodations are fully booked and the others are very expensive. Pity."

Its a significant event in the worldwide aviation calendar and many will quite rightly argue its the best (modern) airshow in the world - all the major airforces of NATO and further afield will have their aerobatic teams in attendance over the course of the event. So, it is not surprising even this far out that accommodation for the 2025 event is struggle.

Given that and its relatively rural location you are not going being able to stay close by. Look at places like Oxford, Gloucester and Abingdon as possible for accommodation and work out travel from there.

@ Nigel
I‘m back from my travel to London this month. Now, I‘m planning to visit England next year, again.

Did the first step and booked a hotel in Swindon :-)

Friday and Saturday Tickets to visit the Air Show are ordered. It was a little bit difficult for me, because my english is not really working well. But after several tries it worked.
No flight show program announced yet. What do know- saturday and sunday (7 hours) will be show the same program?
Does anyone have experience from previous years?

You are too early for the display programme to be announced yet. Here along with the official RIAT website a good resource for finding out what is happening.

https://britishairshows.com/riat-raf-fairford-airshow

Generally the days are different but there are cross overs as well. Friday is most likely to be the most different as that is for the industry/trade.

Here are the event highlights from earlier this year to give you a flavour of what things might look like next year.

https://theaviationist.com/2024/07/24/royal-international-air-tattoo-2024/

I wish you good weather and a fab show

@ isn31c. - thank you so much. Premier Inn was a good idea. The prices were „Payable“
@ Nigel - weather = the unknown. We have to be satisfied with what will be. Naturally, I hope for dry weather.

Finding and booking a nice airshow worked great with your help in this forum. THANK YOU!!!
Now I have to be patient and think about other activities. Many dates are not yet known for summer 2025.

Try MILAVIA.NET for a comprehensive list of airshows in the UK. FLYPAST Magazine also presents lots of background on various shows big and small.

Personally I’ve been to Duxford a couple times and some of the gatherings there are pretty phenomenal. Though I’ve not attended Shuttleworth, it has a number of annual shows operating from grass runways with some of the oldest flyable aircraft in the world. Ultimately there’s no “best” , just your preference for aircraft and venue. I’ve been doing some fantastic French airshows over the past couple summers if you wanted to come across the Channel.

As to accommodations you can search on various sites for what meets your personal tastes. These shows are big business and you shouldn’t expect to waltz in to cheap accommodations on a moment’s notice.

@ Veteran Traveler - you are right.
In the past, we visited some airshows. I loved the Nellis Air Force Show in Las Vegas and the Summer Air Show in Chicago. Also, we visited some small Air Shows. We love to see the P51 Mustang. Not possible often to see flying. This will be our first visit to an Air Show in Uk. I hope, this was a good choice and we will see what we will visit 2026. France, Swiss are good places I heard. Maybe 2026.

I have a question to Swindon. What to do after the Air Show? I booked the bus shuttle. I did find a theatre, but no program for july 2025 announced, yet.
What about Jazz Scene? Is there a Bar/Restaurant with offering live music?
Darts - do you no a nice place Bar/Pub whats safe and we can play darts?
Do you know a nice place for late afternoon tea celebrating?
Any other ideas for 2-3 evenings in Swindon?

Provincial Theatres don't generally have a show every night.

Looking at the Wyvern Theatre website trafalgartickets.com pages 14 and 15 of the what's on page the theatre is dark between 10 and 25 July.

A brief look suggests that there is no traditional movie theatre in town - 'only' modern multiplexes. I'm a self confessed movie theatre snob and like my traditional theatres and art house theatres, while knowing that multiplexes are the commercial way forwards.

I've only been to Swindon by day (many times) so my knowledge of its nightlife is pretty much non existent. But going back a few posts one of the reasons for originally suggesting Reading (beyond being a lot cheaper) is because I strongly suspect that Reading has a far bigger night time economy.

Although the Hexagon Theatre at Reading also looks to be dark between mid July and mid September.

You are only 25 minutes from Bath by train with the last train back being at 2254 on a weekday. Plenty of folk here will know about Theatre in Bath.

For the benefit of anyone else reading this thread it turns out that there is at least 1 other show missing from the cited list- Blackpool on 9 and 10 August. Blackpool was the first Official Air Show in the world when it started in 1909.

So much interesting information. Thank you very much. Then I'll have a look at Bath.