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Shayne Wright shot the legendary Black Eagles aerobatic team from South Korea, who fly KAI T-50B Golden Eagles.
What’s on at Avalon?
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The Australian International Airshow is returning to Avalon this year, in its second outing post-COVID following a successful event in 2023. Billed by its organisers as the biggest airshow in the Southern Hemisphere, Avalon is the local equivalent of major events like Paris and Farnborough, says Philip Smart, spokesperson for organiser AMDA Foundation.
“Avalon 2023 saw 794 participating exhibitor companies, around 280 official industry, government and scientific delegations from more than 30 countries, 59 conferences and more than 390 aircraft on display in the air or on the ground, from homebuilt light aircraft to heavies such as the Boeing C-17, and fast jets including the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor,” he says. “That attracted more than 48,000 attendances across the event’s industry-only days, with the weekend public airshow swelling total attendances to around a quarter of a million.”
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Industry focus
Running from 25-30 March, the 2025 show will begin with three trade-only days, with the fourth day opening the gates to the public ahead of the Friday Night Alight evening airshow before continuing as a public event over the weekend, featuring both static and flying displays from military and civilian aircraft including the Royal Australian Air Force’s Roulettes precision aerobatics team and the US Air Force F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team.
“The week of Avalon has a special atmosphere, a feeling of being involved in something quite out of the ordinary,” says Justin Giddings, CEO of Avalon organiser AMDA Foundation. “There’s a sense that the entire aviation community, including the Royal Australian Air Force, major aviation-related government departments, support organisations and industry associations are in residence at Avalon for that week. People are of course promoting their own aircraft, products and services, but there’s also a real community atmosphere, with Avalon acting as a barometer for the health and future of the whole industry. All this happens with regular flying displays demonstrating some of the most advanced civil and military aircraft in the world.”
This year, Avalon has added a fourth exhibition hall after selling out of exhibition space in 2023, which will be “complemented by updates to external exhibition spaces, a new Executive Business Unit product for industry and a repositioned corporate chalet line,” says Smart.
“The industry exhibition is complemented with a conference program on a cross-section of issues across industry, defence and government,” he says. “The 2025 program will include presentations from the Australian Chief of Air Force, Australian Association for Uncrewed Systems (AAUS), Australian Space Agency, Royal Aeronautical Society, Department of Defence, CSIRO, Royal Australian Air Force and more than 50 other organisations from airport design companies to flight test and engineering societies.”
100 years of the Moth
Avalon 2025 will also honour an important milestone for aviation – where the 2023 event celebrated 100 years since the first autogyro flight, 2025 will see the centenary of the de Havilland Moth family, arguably the first practical mass-produced private aircraft, which first flew in London on 22 February, 1925.
The airshow will mark the occasion with a display of the military Tiger Moth variant on the ground, as well as a flypast from the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia’s “Frozen Five” Tiger Moth formation team.
According to Giddings, Avalon 2025 may be the first flying tribute to the Moth for its hundredth year, as its native Britain is likely to save any celebrations for warmer summer months – which would be appropriate, he says, given Australia’s contribution to the Moth’s history.
“From training Royal Australian Air Force, Empire Air Training Scheme and Navy Fleet Air Arm pilots, to being employed as agricultural and flying club aircraft in the 1950s and 1960s, the Tiger Moth has played a part in both military and civil Australian aviation history,” he says.
“Australia built more than a thousand Tiger Moths at Mascot near Sydney and made the engines at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne. Even after a century, the aircraft is still making a living today operating scenic and air experience flights and training pilots across Australia.”
Aircraft line-up (subject to change)
ADF and US Air Force
- F-35A Lightning II (flying/static)
- F/A-18F Super Hornet (flying/static)
- C-130J Hercules (flying)
- Roulettes PC-21s (flying/static)
- 100 Squadron Heritage Aircraft (flying)
- C-17A Globemaster (flying/static)
- P-8A Poseidon (flying/static)
- MH-60R Romeo (flying/static)
- C-27J Spartan (flying/static)
- E-7A Wedgetail (static)
- EA-18G Growler (static)
- ARH Tiger (static)
- MQ-28 Ghost Bat (static)
- KA-350 King Air (static)
- CH-47 Chinook (static)
- Australian Air Force Cadets DA-40 Diamond (static)
- EC-135 (static)
- USAF F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team (flying/static)
Matt Hall Racing
- MXS-R (flying/static)
- Extra 300L (flying/static)
Paul Bennet Airshows
- Skyace Formation Acrobatic Team (flying/static)
- Wolf Pitts Pro (flying/static)
- Cessna 185 (flying/static)
- Piper Cub (flying)
Additionally, at least five major general aviation associations – Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia, Geelong Sports Aviators, Sport Aircraft Association Australia, Recreational Aviation Australia and Seaplanes Australia – will be bringing 90-120 aircraft between them, with eight museums also in attendance.
Companies bringing aircraft include:
- Airflite
- Dassault
- Embraer
- Global Aviation Products
- Gulfstream (to be confirmed)
- Jabiru
- Jet Aviation
- Leidos
- Leonardo
- Heliflite
- Mad Dog Composites
- Milskil
- QinetiQ
- Raytheon
- RMIT University
- Swinburne University
- Utility Air – Diamond
- V-Star
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Comments (2)
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says:Despite looking after the exhibitors. It seems the organisers have decided the general public and aircraft enthusiasts are expendable mugs.
Charging $65 a day for parking in a grass field?
Gold pass ticket holders were allowed to enter the Airshow gates at 9am to allow a less crowded look around the exhibition halls and displays but now are only allowed in with the rest of the public at midday.
The tickets are expensive when you compare with probably the best Airshow in the world the Royal international air tattoo at Fairford.
A similar price to a 3 day gold pass buys you a 6 day pass to the RIAT. 3 days of arrivals and practice, 2 day Airshow ( without the lengthy interruption by Jetstar flights ) then a jam packed departures day, the final 4 days in a grandstand with double height rows so you don’t hit the head of the person in front with your long camera lens, close up to the display fence line with speakers on the ground so that they don’t get in the way of your photographs.
Avalon is getting worse each year I attend and this will likely be my last visit if it turns out as bad as I believe. Not even the F-22 Raptor display will likely save it.
Unfortunately the general public have not seen overseas air shows like Fairford to see what is possible.
What does anyone else think?
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says:Sadly, I agree. It’s become too expensive for what it is. RIAT is much better value. On Saturday, the parking queue exceeded two hours and 10km. The flying display didn’t start until 1.30 after numerous delays. On Friday you couldn’t access the parking you’d paid for and an unfortunate crash cancelled the evening display. For somebody who’d paid for interstate flights, car rental, fuel, premium parking, Gold Class and a hotel it was poor value. I don’t think I’ll waste my money next time.