Organisers of the Abingdon Air and Country Show have warned this year’s event may be the last after a poor spectator turnout.
Poor weather at the flying show at Abingdon Airfield, Dalton Barracks, meant only around half the usual number of visitors, estimated at five to 6,000, came along on the day. The show was also disrupted when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) decided not to grant permission for fixed-wing aircraft to use the main runway at the airfield.
Organisers of the event had to cancel the display of 80 aircraft due to land on the day, and instead extend the length of time aircraft spent in the air. Colin Smith, a member of the organizing committee, said the lack of numbers through the gate on Sunday, May 2, had been “a big hit”.
“From the organizing committee’s point of view, we’d like to apologise for the lack of aircraft on the ground, which was due to circumstances beyond our ability to control,” he said. “We’d like to thank everybody for their messages of support. We’ve never had a problem in the past. The MoD said the runway was unsuitable for aircraft operations, but enquiries will have to be made and questions asked.”
Mr Smith said the low attendance, several thousand down on last year’s 10,000-plus crowd, had left a “big dent” in the finances of the show, and organizers wouldn’t know until the autumn how much money could be passed to event charity, the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance.
“The future of the show is in a little bit of doubt but we are trying to remain positive,” he said. “We need to be looking at some serious corporate sponsorship if we are to go ahead next year, which would be uncharted territory for us. We all received a very big kick in the stomach over the weekend with the runway and the weather. It’s been great to put something back on the air show circuit in this area that’s been sadly missing since the 90s.”
Visitors to the show still got to enjoy a range of aviation attractions, including a Black Hawk helicopter from the US army, a Dutch F-16 fighter plane and the RAF Hawk display team, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Tom Saunders, 29.
“Abingdon’s my home show so it’s the one I’ve been looking forward to the most,” said Flt Lt Saunders. “I used to fly round the corner in Kidlington so I know the area really well. It’s a real pleasure to fly in the local area.”
