Stunt displays grounded in wake of Shoreham disaster

FARNBOROUGH Airshow organisers have scrapped its public display weekend, claiming restrictions on stunts imposed in the wake of the Shoreham air crash had led to “dwindling audiences”.

Last year, about 80,000 spectators attended the event over the two-day finale, which has previously taken place at the end of the week-long trade show.

Organisers said the impact of the Shoreham air crash contributed to the decision. The Civil Aviation Authority banned vintage jets from carrying out acrobatics over land in the wake of the August 2015 Shoreham disaster, in which 11 people died, and a number of displays are now limited to fly-pasts.

Gareth Rogers, chief executive of Farnborough International Airshow, said the Hampshire event’s public display “doesn’t entertain in the way it once did and that was reflected in dwindling audiences”. He said: “The feedback was about value for money. Some of it was negative – there’s no point pretending that it wasn’t.

“As a result of the new rules, multiaerobatic display teams aren’t willing to perform in the same way that they were before. We need to do certain things to justify our entrance fee and we’re no longer able to do everything we wanted to do.”

Mr Rogers added that Shoreham was one of a “multitude of factors” for ending the public display, and attendances have “almost halved in 10 years”.

The biennial air show will last just five days from next year.

Mr Rogers stressed that opening the show to the public on the final day will help to “engage and inspire a new generation” by giving them access to “more of the people, products and processes that underpin the global aerospace, defence and space industries”.