Farnborough Airshow will no longer include a weekend of public flying displays, following a “very negative and vitriolic” response to last year’s show.
The airshow, held every two years at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire, close to the Surrey border, will “return to its roots” in July 2020 as a trade show, showcasing new technologies in the aviation, aerospace and defence industries, the BBC reports.
Mary Kearney, spokeswoman for Farnborough International, which organises the event, said the feedback from the 2018 show indicated organisers could “no longer provide an airshow the public want”.
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The event “is hugely popular in the local area”, says Surrey and Hampsire radio station Eagle FM, and last year’s event attracted more than 80,000 visitors.
However, social media pages for the airshow were flooded with negative reviews from attendees who said the air displays were lacklustre, Get Surrey reports.
“Many picked out the display of the Red Arrows - a brief flypast performance - as a reason behind claiming it was one of the worst shows in recent times,” the website adds.
Kearney said that new safety rules introduced after the fatal crash at the Shoreham Airshow in Kent in 2015 had “certainly had an impact” on the kinds of displays organisers were able to offer.
She said that teams such as the RAF Red Arrows were no longer able put on “fast aerobatic displays” expected by the public, and that the restrictions had “expedited” Farnborough International’s decision to cancel the public weekend.
Instead, members of the public will be able to visit the exhibition halls on the final day of the show, in a move which organisers claim will “engage and inspire a new generation” to learn more about the industries.
Gareth Rogers, chief executive of Farnborough International, said: “Removing the public weekend will disappoint some, but for our exhibitors and trade visitors the focus is on business and accessing the talent they need to sustain global competitiveness.”
Amateur aviation enthusiasts mourned the decision on social media and shared fond memories of public displays in years past:
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