Farnborough Airshow next year.

[Dreameasy]

DH really wants to go so I have said I will look into it for next year. We would fly down, likely to London as we live near Inverness. We could hire a car but I have no idea where to base ourselves. I think I’d like to do an air b and b, do the airshow on the Saturday but be able to visit other places for a few days either side. We’ve done London a lot so don’t want to do central London again. I’d like to see Windsor, Southampton, Portsmouth but google maps tells me they aren’t particularly close to where the show is. May be having 2 bases is best but that’s a pain for what effectively is a long weekend. We also don’t want to have to drive everywhere and are happy on public transport. Am I way off with what we would like to achieve? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Just a heads up, it’s always been every other year and it’s on in a few weeks’ time. I used to live in Farnborough until two years ago. The area gets gridlocked over the Airshow public weekend, the places you mention are easily accessible every other weekend but bear this in mind when planning where to stay. Either Farnborough for convenience of the Airshow but tricky to leave for other attractions by car (I wouldn’t bother hiring a car), or another town that you can get the train into Farnborough on your Airshow day. I can’t help re local transport (if there’s a shuttle from station for example) because I was in the midst of it, but do check out North Camp station too - it’s on the line between Reading and Guildford (Gatwick but not express service) and may be useful. I think be prepared for a lot of walking. Also be aware that prior to the public weekend it’s a trade show for the week so accommodation is very expensive and roads are busy. These are my observations from within the area so I hope someone else can help from a visitor point of view.

Thank you. I had no idea it wasn’t every year so thanks for mentioning it. May be I will get my long weekend in Italy next year after all!

Please double-check, but the Italy break sounds like a bonus!

It's next week so won't be on next year and it is only Mon-Fri. It is really just the trade show now, there are far fewer flying displays etc than there used to be, since the Shoreham air crash. The public weekend stopped a good few years ago, the main public day is Friday but it's nothing like it used to be.

Just to reiterate that the whole town becomes gridlocked during the air show so bear that in mind. It's actually quite claustrophobic and having a car makes it worse.

TBH unless DH has a burning desire to specifically see the Farnborough display for some reason I'd usually recommend the Royal International Air Tatoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford instead..Farnborough is very much a civilian trade fare with flying thrown in, mostly civvies, whereas RIAT tends to have more of the nosiy fast stuff...

However...a big one...RIAT got cancelled this year because of the bases involvement with operations against Iran...

RIAT is I think still scheduled for July 27, but what the reality will be?

Oh yes, forgot about the year, and yes agree about the emphasis on it being a trade show nowadays.

I took DS 2 years ago. It was very much trade-orientated. There is a shuttle bus from the train station.

Have you looked at the air shows at IMW Duxford? It's near Cambridge so you could explore around there.

An right. It looks like he needs to consider different shows. I will show this to him later tonight. Thanks all.

We live in the area and used to watch the airshow from nearby hills but it has all changed since the new safety regulations.

It is now more trade orientated but the weekends are still for the public.

There are plenty of car parks where you take the shuttle bus to the ground.

Not sure about air b&b but there is a holiday park in Tilford.

There are no weekends now, it is 20th to 24th and the only day the public can book for is the Friday.

I live in Hampshire, the airshow is a pale imitation of what is once was. Today was the public day, they don't have it at weekends anymore and it did sell out although there's a museum nearby which has a family day and you can see everything. But the next one won't be until 2028 now. The one time we went we took the train and there was a shuttle bus but actually you could easily walk from the station.

What you could look at is some of the other airshows - for example Teignmouth and Torbay - and the Channel Islands, although they often lack funding and it can be a bit hit and miss if they happen every year. But since the Shoreham incident, the rules have been tightened up massively about how they can display which makes it better to go to one that's over the sea. I don't know if there are any closer to you? Back in the day I went to one at St Athans in South Wales too and I think there might be one in Swansea.

Maybe this one OP: https://englishrivieraairshow.co.uk/ accessible by train too so you could park in eg Newton Abbot and get the train. It has the dates for 2027 on the website.

Or there's time to go to this one this year: https://www.jerseyairdisplay.org.uk/

We went today and it was really good. We walked rather than taking the shuttle bus and the road management and car parking was done well (maybe not if you live close by) for easy getting in and out.