September 28, 2015 4.44 pm This story is over 102 months old

RAF Waddington Air Show scrapped for good

Air show cancelled: The Royal Air Force has confirmed the Waddington International Air Show will not return due to “significant security concerns and operational risks”.
Photo: Steve Smailes/The Lincolnite

The Royal Air Force has confirmed the Waddington International Air Show will not return due to “significant security concerns and operational risks”.

The RAF has been conducting a review of its air show commitments and it has now been announced that the popular air show will no longer be held at the RAF base near Lincoln.

The Royal Air Force has said an extensive survey of alternative sites in the East of England has been carried out and it has decided that it would be possible to hold an air show at RAF Scampton.

However, further work is needed to address significant legal, commercial and infrastructure issues.

The RAF said: “It will not be possible to hold an air show at RAF Scampton until 2017 at the earliest.

“The RAF appreciates that the cancellation of the air show at RAF Waddington will be a disappointment to many; however, it is hoped that the intent to establish an alternative air show at RAF Scampton is evidence of the RAF’s commitment to maintain its traditional and modern links to ‘Bomber County’.”

The Waddington Air Show has not been run since 2014, as £35 million runway works took priority at the base for 59 weeks.

The works threw a question mark over the return of the event, which is regularly attended by over 140,000 visitors.

Alongside a country-wide review of the RAF’s air show commitments, many began to suspect the event would not return.

A petition to the Ministry of Defence to campaign for the event’s safety gained over 4,600 signatures, and Lincoln’s MP Karl McCartney also joined the campaign to see the return of the show.