Four free days of flying over Eastbourne seafront start Thursday 13 August: who flies which day, an 11.45am Saturday start, and roads closed until 18 August.

Airbourne returns to Eastbourne seafront tomorrow, Thursday 13 August, and runs until Sunday 16 August: four days of free flying displays with the main event site on the Western Lawns open from 10.30am to 5pm each day. The organisers, Eastbourne Borough Council’s Visit Eastbourne team, bill it as the UK’s best free airshow, and this year’s programme runs from a MiG-17 to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, with a firework finale from Wish Tower beach on Sunday night.

One absence to know about before you pick your day: the Red Arrows are not in this year’s line-up. The headline RAF display is the Typhoon, which flies Friday to Sunday only, so Thursday’s programme leans on the historic and aerobatic acts.

Who flies which day

Grid showing which Airbourne 2026 displays fly on which days from Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 August: six acts fly all four days including the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the P-51 Mustang, the RAF Typhoon flies Friday to Sunday, the MiG-17 Thursday to Saturday, and the Red Devils, Starlings and Conair Turbo Firecat join at the weekend
Graphic by Eastbourne Live.

Six displays appear on all four days, according to the confirmed flying line-up: the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight with its Dakota, Spitfire and Hurricane, the RAF Tutor Display Team, the Royal Navy Black Cats helicopter solo display, Rich Goodwin’s Jet Pitts, the P-51 Mustang ‘Marinell’, new to Airbourne this year, and the AeroSuperBatics WingWalkers, who fly solo on Thursday and Friday and as a duo on Saturday and Sunday.

The rest of the programme rotates. The MiG-17, another newcomer, flies Thursday to Saturday. Thursday and Friday visitors also get the Stampe Formation Team, The Firebirds and the Wasp. From Friday the RAF Typhoon joins, alongside two Second World War heavyweights: the ‘Sally B’ B-17 Flying Fortress and the ‘Spirit of Kent’ Spitfire, both flying Friday to Sunday. The weekend brings three acts of its own: the Red Devils, the Army’s parachute display team making its Airbourne debut, The Starlings Aerobatics Team and the Conair Turbo Firecat, all on Saturday and Sunday.

The council’s standing caveat applies to all of it: “All flying is subject to RAF operational commitments, weather and serviceability.”

Times each day

Flying starts around lunchtime on most days, with one exception worth noting: Saturday 15 August starts earlier, at 11.45am. The Western Lawns site opens at 10.30am daily and bandstand seating is open from 11.30am to 5pm on all four days. An Airshow Fanzone at Bankers Corner shows the action on a big screen.

The evenings carry on after the flying stops. Tribute concerts start at 8pm, doors 7pm: George Michael on Thursday, the Bee Gees on Friday and Lewis Capaldi on Saturday. Sunday closes the show with fireworks from Wish Tower beach at 9pm, with Radio Airbourne on 87.7FM warming up from around 8pm.

Roads closed until Tuesday 18 August

The seafront closures are already in place. King Edward’s Parade from Silverdale Road to Lascelles Terrace, Grand Parade from Queens Gardens to Lascelles Terrace and Marine Parade from Queens Gardens to Marine Parade Road closed at 6am on Monday 10 August and stay shut until 11.59pm on Tuesday 18 August, two days after the show ends. From today, Wednesday 12 August, the closures extend to Cavendish Place from Seaside Road to Grand Parade and Devonshire Place from Compton Street to Grand Parade, with Ascot Close and Wartling Road also closed to through traffic until Sunday night, resident access maintained.

Buses are diverted away from the seafront while the closures run, and coastal services from the Brighton and Hastings directions terminate short of the pier. Open-top sightseeing buses cannot serve the Bandstand, Lifeboat Museum or Grand Hotel stops. The Dotto land train is not running during the event.

What it means for you

If you want the fullest single day, Saturday has the earliest start and the biggest bill: the Typhoon, both Spitfires, the B-17, the MiG-17 and the Red Devils’ debut all fly. If your priority is the warbirds without weekend crowds, Friday is the only day the Typhoon, Sally B and both Spitfires overlap with the quieter end of the week.

Getting in is the harder part. With the seafront closed, driving to the front is not an option; the train is the sensible route, and a queuing system operates at Eastbourne station from 4pm on Saturday and Sunday for the journey home. Our Eastbourne train times page has the regular service pattern. Cyclists get free cycle parks at Howard Square and Wilmington Square. For the closure map and day-to-day travel updates beyond the show, see our Eastbourne roadworks and travel page, and for the rest of the summer’s events our things to do in Eastbourne guide.