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Tickets are now on sale for the third annual Pacific Airshow Gold Coast in four months’ time.
The three-day event will run from 15 to 17 August in Surfers Paradise, and will this year include a new STEM Zone for younger attendees alongside the aerial displays and ground entertainment.
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“Our aim has always been to bring new experiences to the event each year that eclipse the expectations of our audience, and this year we will have many exciting new additions both on the ground and in the air,” director Kevin Elliott said.
Last year’s airshow grew attendance by 20 per cent over its initial outing in 2023, achieving 100 per cent occupancy throughout Surfers Paradise and over 92 per cent occupancy across the Gold Coast, according to figures from Experience Gold Coast.
Organisers said the number of non-ticketed spectators also increased “significantly”.
According to Queensland’s Minister for the Environment and Tourism, Andrew Powell, the Gold Coast event “ranks amongst the very best airshows globally”.
“The Pacific Airshow has taken off as one of the most anticipated events in Queensland, as a 1.5 kilometre stretch of the Gold Coast is packed with an estimated 270,000 spectators having the time of their life,” Minister Powell said.
“We anticipate this year’s event will help to generate more than $33 million in overnight visitor expenditure, with more than 22,000 people landing in Queensland specifically for it.”
The 2024 show saw an expanded footprint after the inaugural event in 2023 attracted around 250,000 people, including 100,000 paying attendees. Last year’s edition took up around 1.5km of the Surfers Paradise Esplanade, up from 1km in 2023.
Military displays in 2024 included the RAAF’s F-35A Lightning II and F/A-18F Super Hornet; US Air Force F-22 Raptors, KC135 tanker and C-17 heavy jets; and the RAF Falcons and US Navy Leap Frogs parachute teams.
The Pacific Airshow Gold Coast was created by the team behind the Pacific Airshow at Huntington Beach, California, which attracts 3 million visitors.
Launched in 2016, the original Pacific Airshow in California in 2021 included aerial displays by the US Navy Blue Angels, US Air Force Thunderbirds, Royal Air Force Red Arrows, and the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.
