Air show returns to town - at a cost of £1.5million to SAC
SOUTH Ayrshire Council has agreed to splash out £1.5 million over five years to revive Ayr’s international airshow.
A previous incarnation of the event - known as the Scottish International Airshow - was scrapped early in 2020 after a row over finances between the event operators and South Ayrshire Council.
The new event, to take place next September, will operate under a different model, with the council agreeing to spend £300,000 annually while taking on responsibility for the non-aviation side of the airshow.
Previously organisers had received a grant, with no financial return for the council.
The council has already signed up STEM charity SKYLAB as its partner.
They will be responsible for securing the air displays and putting together associated educational events.
One of the issues around the previous shows, which ran from 2014 to 2018, was the ability to make the event ‘selfsustainable’, rather than reliant on a council money.
The 2023 airshow will see more council money invested in the event than ever before.
Unlike the previous model, this time the council will receive income and hopes to recoup its investment and eventually make a profit.
A number of military and amateur air displays are being approached, including the Red Arrows, the RAF Falcons Parachute team, a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the famed Apache battle helicopter.
The council is also looking for sponsors to raise additional funds for the show and has proposed to make the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund a charity partner.
Cabinet member for tourism, Cllr Alec Clark, said: “This is a premier event for Ayr and South Ayrshire. The good thing is that we will do the in-house groundwork, so the benefits of doing that groundwork will come back to us. When this was run before, there were no benefits at all.
“After the hardships of Covid, we can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel.”
South Ayrshire Council’s leader, Councillor Martin Dowey, had made the return of a sustainable airshow one of his party’s priorities ahead of May’s local elections.
Cllr Dowey added that the educational element of the event would also help local aerospace industry by attracting more young people.
He said: “The airport is short of staff and needs a skilled workforce. We have a lot of kids who may not consider the airport as being a destination for them.”
He also said that the RAF Benevolent Fund was ‘absolutely delighted’ to be a partner and that their presence at the show could provide a vital contact for RAF members who had left the service but needed support.