UK: Farnborough Air Show

I was in London, England, for a few days en route to Dublin, Ireland in mid-July, and had planned to meet up with Amer, the Travelling Architect of Tend to Travel, for a meal.  When he texted me asking if I’d like to join him on a day trip to Farnborough Air Show which is held every 2 years, I simply jumped at the opportunity and replied yes, why not?  We agreed that he’d buy the tickets first, online, rather than buying the ticket at the entrance as they would cost more there (GBP35 online vs. GBP41 at the entrance).  It’s free for kids under the age of 16 as long as they are accompanied by an adult.

Going to Farnborough

On the appointed day, Sunday 15th, we met up in the morning near to my hotel and headed to London Waterloo Station where we bought two off-peak return tickets to Farnborough, which cost us about GBP15 each.  The train ride to Farnborough Station took about 40 minutes from London Waterloo.  Upon arrival at Farnborough Station, we joined the queue for the free shuttle bus to the airfield where the air show was being held.  The queue for the bus was long but everything was orderly.  It didn’t take that long before we were on a double decker bus, on our way to the airfield. 

Once we got to the airfield, we joined another queue, this time for the ticket check and security check.  There’re a lot of people queuing but there were plenty of queues and entrance so it didn’t take much time to get inside either.  For families with children, fret not, there're separate queues especially for such a group.  The security check involved getting through a security gate, while your personal belongings such as jackets and bags would have to go through a scanner like at any airport.  We however noted that there were some queues where there’s no security gate, probably a makeshift entrance, but believed that a manual security check was in place. 

The Flying Display Programme & Air Show Exhibitions

Now onto the Flying Display Programme & air show exhibitions.  We went straight to the airfield first to catch the Flying Display Programme which was starting soon after we arrived, at around 12.30 p.m.  It was a very cloudy and quite a windy day, with dark clouds and streaks of sunrays despite it being mid July already.  Most of the visitors that we saw there were with their family and children, some setting up a tent and having a picnic while enjoying the weather.  Well, at least it didn’t rain... (The grass and the ground were wet however).

The airfield with dark clouds hovering over

The Flying Display Programme kicked off with a group parachute jump & a British Airways Airbus 318 departing from the airfield.  We were more looking forward to seeing Malaysia Airlines’ 2nd A380 but apparently the aircraft was no longer there.  In its place was another A380 that comes with an Airbus livery.  We also had wanted to see Qatar Airways’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner but it wasn’t there either on the day (although we did know about this beforehand).  The whole itinerary of the Programme however wasn’t a total letdown.  We managed to catch the show by A380, Breitling Jet Team, F18, Red Arrows (no doubt one of the more popular ones among the spectators), Tornado & Vulcan, among others.

Here are some photos from the Flying Display Programme.

The Red Arrows back on the ground

Towards the end of the air show we walked around the exhibition area but except for 4 exhibition halls (EADS, BAE Systems, Virgin Galactic & some Russian aerospace technology companies), the rest were either closed to the public or entry was by invitation only.  Almost half of the space in the area were taken up by "chalets", where companies entertained their staff, clients & families.  There were plenty of flight simulators for those who are interested but these cost extra.

Overall it was a good day out, and I reckon a lot of families enjoyed the day too.  In hindsight though, while I especially enjoyed the Flying Display Programme, I think the ticket price is not worth it because there wasn’t much on display in the exhibition halls.  If you’re not exactly a hardcore aviation enthusiast and you’re going there just for the Flying Display Programme, you might as well just find a spot in a perimeter of the airfield and watch the air show for free. 

Okay, that’s me just being a cheapskate, but it makes sense, no? ;-)  Obviously it's another story if you are an aviation geek :-)  In any case, if you're going to the next instalment of the air show, don't forget to bring ear plugs!

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For more information:

1. Farnborough Official Website