THE international Air Display is unlikely to feature its star attraction next year, with the Red Arrows on tour in Canada in September and Island organisers not expected to change the date of the annual event.
Jersey’s 2024 display will still be held in the second week of September and not follow Guernsey’s move to June, according to organiser Mike Higgins.
This week, the foundation behind the Guernsey display announced the three-month shift to allow the Red Arrows to take part.
However, Mr Higgins, who leads the Jersey International Air Display – a not-for-profit company which has organised the free air show for 23 years – said that the Island would not be following suit.
He said: “We have known since February that it would be unlikely that the Red Arrows would be coming next year, and our display will be on 12 September.
“There are two main reasons why our display has always been held in September: one is because it falls close to Battle of Britain Day and, secondly, it supports tourism in the shoulder months.
“The Red Arrows have been unable to attend in previous years, when we’ve always tried to include other display teams, including the Breitling Jet Team and the Baltic Bees.
“This year, we were the only British display attended by the Patrouille de France in their 70th anniversary year. They were very popular, and I hope they will be able to return next year.”
Mr Higgins said that not every aircraft which displayed over Jersey also went to Guernsey; indeed, the Lancaster this year had only flown over St Aubin’s Bay.
He added that June was at the high point of the European display season so Guernsey may face competition from other events. September, on the other hand, was towards the end of the season, and Jersey had built up good relationships with displays that occurred at a similar time.
The government announced in March that it would be inviting “expressions of interest” from display organisers to receive grant funding, which this year was £60,000.
It later announced that four potential organisers had come forward, one of those known to be JIAD. However, the government has stressed that it is not responsible for running the display and any organisation which met the required standards was free to apply.
It has said that any decisions on annual grant funding would be evaluated in due course.
Mr Higgins said he was already in discussions about bringing some “extremely interesting” aircraft over for next year’s display, include ones never seen in Jersey, even though the government has not chosen a recipient for the grant.
He added that he was encouraged by the sponsorship which had come forward, albeit after a late plea for support, which had enabled this year’s display to take place.
“Ideally, I would like the display to be entirely funded by the private sector,” he said.
Mr Higgins said that the vast majority of the £120,000 it had cost to put on this year’s display had been spent in Jersey.
