Eastbourne Airshow 2027 dates are not announced yet; the 2026 dates came on 2 October 2025. Plus the full 2026 line-up, Sunday times and why fireworks were cut.
Airbourne runs on Eastbourne seafront from Thursday 13 August to 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 line-up changes day by day and so does the timetable, so this page sets out both. The organisers, Eastbourne Borough Council’s Visit Eastbourne team, bill it as the UK’s best free airshow, and this year’s programme ran from a MiG-17 to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The firework finale planned for Sunday night was called off; the update below sets out why.
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
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.”
Sunday at Eastbourne Airshow 2026: the line-up and the times
Sunday 16 August was the fullest day of the four. Pulling the rotating programme together, twelve displays were down to fly on the Sunday, more than any other day, and only one act on the whole bill was missing from it.
Flew on Sunday 16 August
- RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight: Dakota, Spitfire and Hurricane
- RAF Tutor Display Team
- Royal Navy Black Cats helicopter solo
- Rich Goodwin’s Jet Pitts
- P-51 Mustang ‘Marinell’, new to Airbourne this year
- AeroSuperBatics WingWalkers, flying as a duo on Saturday and Sunday rather than the solo display of Thursday and Friday
- RAF Typhoon, the headline RAF act, Friday to Sunday only
- ‘Sally B’ B-17 Flying Fortress, Friday to Sunday
- ‘Spirit of Kent’ Spitfire, Friday to Sunday
- The Red Devils, the Army parachute display team, Saturday and Sunday only
- The Starlings Aerobatics Team, Saturday and Sunday only
- Conair Turbo Firecat, Saturday and Sunday only
Did not fly on Sunday
- The MiG-17, the other newcomer, was a Thursday to Saturday act, so Sunday was the one day of the show it did not appear.
- The Red Arrows withdrew from the entire week on 8 August, so they did not fly on Sunday or any other day.
Sunday’s times. The Western Lawns site opened at 10.30am, bandstand seating ran 11.30am to 5pm, flying started around lunchtime rather than Saturday’s earlier 11.45am, and flying finished at 5pm. Hospitality clubs opened at 11am. The Sunday evening firework finale from Wish Tower beach, scheduled for 9pm, was cancelled on 14 August.
Sunday evening was not empty, though. The organisers put something in its place, which was not announced when this page first went up: an Elvis tribute show was added to the Bandstand programme for the Sunday evening, in the council’s words “to entertain visitors staying overnight in Eastbourne”. So the three tribute nights of Thursday, Friday and Saturday became four, with the Sunday one arranged at two days’ notice (Eastbourne Borough Council, 18 August 2026).
If you were trying to see the widest range of aircraft in one visit, Saturday and Sunday were the two days that carried the weekend-only acts, and Saturday alone had both the MiG-17 and the weekend additions.
Airbourne 2026 timetable: 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.
| Day | Site opens | Flying | Bandstand seating | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 13 Aug | 10.30am | from lunchtime, ends 5pm | 11.30am to 5pm | George Michael tribute, 8pm |
| Fri 14 Aug | 10.30am | from lunchtime, ends 5pm | 11.30am to 5pm | Bee Gees tribute, 8pm |
| Sat 15 Aug | 10.30am | early start 11.45am, ends 5pm | 11.30am to 5pm | Lewis Capaldi tribute, 8pm |
| Sun 16 Aug | 10.30am | from lunchtime, ends 5pm | 11.30am to 5pm | fireworks cancelled, see below |
Hospitality clubs open at 11am and stay open until half an hour after the last display. The one thing the council does not publish in advance is the running order act by act: the flying line-up page says daily flight times come with the official Airbourne programme, which carries a preliminary running order and a schedule updated each morning at the show. Radio Airbourne on 87.7FM reads the times out through the day, so you do not have to buy one to follow along.
The evenings carried on after the flying stopped. Tribute concerts started at 8pm, doors 7pm: George Michael on Thursday, the Bee Gees on Friday and Lewis Capaldi on Saturday. Sunday was to have closed the show with fireworks from Wish Tower beach at 9pm, with Radio Airbourne on 87.7FM warming up from around 8pm, but the display was cancelled two days beforehand.
What changed during Airbourne 2026
Three announcements moved after the programme was set, all of them from the organisers’ own newsroom.
The Red Arrows pulled out of the whole week, on 8 August. Visit Eastbourne’s flying update said that “due to adverse weather conditions in North America, the Red Arrows have been delayed in their return from an American tour and will not be available for any airshows next week, including, sadly, Eastbourne’s Airbourne, Lyme Regis and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo” (Visit Eastbourne, 8 August 2026). Two replacements were added within days: the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress ‘Sally B’, the last airworthy example in Europe, flying Friday to Sunday, and the Conair Turbo Firecat, a French-based water bomber making its Airbourne debut with a water display on Saturday and Sunday.
The Sunday firework finale was cancelled, on 14 August. The organisers said that “following the severe alert issued by the UK Government on 14 August and in consultation with partners, we regret to announce we will not be staging the Airbourne fireworks on Sunday evening”. Eastbourne Borough Council’s lead member for tourism and place, Cllr Jenny Williams, said the decision was “taken in the interests of public safety and in ensuring we do not place further pressures on emergency services at this already busy time” (Visit Eastbourne fireworks page). The 8pm Radio Airbourne warm-up went with it. Everything else on the Sunday bill, including the Red Devils’ Airbourne debut, went ahead.
Getting there on the Sunday was harder than planned. The organisers advised visitors to drive rather than take the train because of rail disruption, pointing people to overflow parking at Five Acres, with replacement buses running between Polegate and Eastbourne and Southern ticket acceptance in place on Southeastern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express.
What it means for you: if you are reading this looking for the Sunday timetable, the show is over. Airbourne has met its cost-neutral target each of the last two years and the 2026 dates were confirmed on 2 October 2025, so early October is when the 2027 dates normally appear. Nothing has been announced yet.
How the Sunday actually went, in the council’s own account
Eastbourne Borough Council published its wrap-up on 18 August 2026, and it is the only official statement on how the weekend went. Three things in it are worth having if you were there on the Sunday or are deciding about 2027.
The Sunday was one of the two busiest days. The council says footfall was “particularly high on Saturday and Sunday”, and it lists what it was working against: the Red Arrows grounded in Canada, high temperatures, train disruption and the government severe alert that ended the fireworks. Pre-bookable and overflow car parking were opened to take the strain off a disrupted railway, and the income from the official Airbourne car parks goes back into the cost of the show rather than to the council.
The reason the Red Arrows were missing has a location attached to it. The council’s account gives it as the team being grounded in Canada, which is more than the withdrawal notice of 8 August said at the time.
More debuted than the headline acts suggest. Alongside the MiG-17, the Red Devils, Mustang ‘Marinell’, the ‘Spirit of Kent’ Spitfire and the Conair Turbo Firecat with its water drop, the council also names the Navy Wings Wasp and the Firebirds as new this year, and the Stampe Formation Team among the aerobatic acts. It does not say which days those three flew, so they are not in the Sunday list above.
2027 is not booked. Cllr Jenny Williams, the council’s Lead Member for Tourism and Place, put it plainly: “it is only with your support that Airbourne can return in 2027”. Donations go through SaveAirbourne.com, the Ambassador scheme starts at £2 a month, and the souvenir programme is still on sale with discounts that run to Christmas. On the 2026 precedent, the dates were confirmed on 2 October once the show had met its cost-neutral target, so early October is when to look.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a flying display timetable for Airbourne 2026?
Not one published in advance. Visit Eastbourne lists which acts fly on which day but says daily flight times come with the official Airbourne programme, sold on site, which carries a preliminary running order plus a schedule updated each morning. Radio Airbourne on 87.7FM announces the times through the day.
What time does flying start at Airbourne?
From lunchtime on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and earlier on Saturday 15 August at 11.45am. Flying finishes at 5pm every day, the same time the Western Lawns event site closes.
Which days do the Typhoon and the Red Arrows fly?
The RAF Typhoon flies Friday to Sunday only. The Red Arrows are not in the 2026 line-up at all, so Thursday’s programme leans on the historic and aerobatic acts instead.
Who flew on the Sunday at Eastbourne Airshow 2026?
Twelve displays, the fullest bill of the four days: the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the RAF Tutor, the Royal Navy Black Cats, Rich Goodwin’s Jet Pitts, the P-51 Mustang ‘Marinell’, the WingWalkers as a duo, the RAF Typhoon, the ‘Sally B’ B-17, the ‘Spirit of Kent’ Spitfire, the Red Devils, The Starlings and the Conair Turbo Firecat. The MiG-17 did not fly on Sunday, and neither did the Red Arrows, who withdrew from the whole show on 8 August.
What is the busiest day at Airbourne 2026?
Saturday. It has the earliest start at 11.45am and the fullest bill: the Typhoon, both Spitfires, the ‘Sally B’ B-17, the MiG-17 and the Red Devils’ Airbourne debut all fly that day.
Were the Airbourne 2026 fireworks cancelled?
Yes. The Sunday 16 August firework finale at Wish Tower beach was called off on 14 August, after what the organisers described as “the severe alert issued by the UK Government on 14 August”. The council said the decision was taken for public safety and to avoid adding pressure on emergency services. The rest of Sunday’s programme ran as planned.
Did the Red Arrows fly at Airbourne 2026?
No. They withdrew on 8 August, delayed returning from an American tour by weather in North America, and missed Airbourne, Lyme Regis and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo that week. The B-17 ‘Sally B’ and the Conair Turbo Firecat were added to the line-up in their place.
When is Eastbourne Airshow 2027?
Not announced yet. Airbourne 2026 ran from 13 to 16 August, and those dates were confirmed on 2 October 2025 once the show had met its cost-neutral target, so early October is the point in the year to check.
Which roads are closed for Airbourne?
King Edward’s Parade, Grand Parade and Marine Parade along the seafront, closed since 6am on Monday 10 August and shut until 11.59pm on Tuesday 18 August, two days after the show ends. Cavendish Place and Devonshire Place are also closed, with Ascot Close and Wartling Road shut to through traffic.
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