Patrouille Suisse at the Flying Finale in 2022
Duxford can be relied upon to provide great variety in their offerings and to fine-tune their airshows to meet visitor preferences. Apart from the loss of Flying Legends, changes over the years have resulted in a consistent enhancement to the programme of shows. For 2024, the net effect is the retention of the most popular shows leaving two major airshows, two 'Special Flying Events' and three Flying Days.
In recent years, The Imperial War Museum (IWM), Duxford, had major airshows three times each year: a May show that was themed; The Fighter Collection's 'Flying Legends' in the middle of July and the main Duxford Air Show in September. This is also themed: since 2017 it has been the 'Battle of Britain Air Show'.
These 'normals' were disrupted in 2020 by Covid-19, when May's Duxford Air Festival and July's Flying Legends were cancelled. Then, in August, The Fighter Collection and the Imperial War Museum announced that Flying Legends would not return. It was expected that The Battle of Britain Airshow would go ahead until very close to the show date, when it, too, was cancelled.
Smaller airshows, called 'Showcase Days', were also in the schedule. These had less flying than major airshows and a lower ticket price - free to IWM Members.
In 2021 the Festival was renamed the 'Summer Airshow' and moved from its normal May date to the July slot traditionally occupied by Flying Legends. The Battle of Britain Airshow retained its September date.
Showcase Days were retained but were called 'Flying Days'. Evening flying was also added for the first time in a show called 'After Hours'.
For 2022 and 2023 the Summer Airshow was retained but moved to June and the Battle of Britain Airshow was also kept, as was its September slot. Two of the bigger Flying Days: 'After Hours' and 'Best of' became 'Special Flying Events', billed as 'Flying Evening' and 'Flying Finale' respectively. There were also four flying days, which remained free to members.
The shows announced for 2024 retain the same format, except that there are now just three Flying Days. These are detailed on a separate page 'Duxford Flying Days'.
| Duxford Airshows 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Flying Day: VE Day | May 5 |
| Summer Air Show 'D-Day 80' | June 1 - 2 |
| Flying Day: The Americans | July 26 |
| Flying Evening | August 17 |
| Flying Day: 19 Squadron | August 31 |
| Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show | September 14 - 15 |
| Flying Finale | October 5 |
| Alternatively, see the British Airshows calendar for a list of all known British airshows. | |
Duxford was an airfield in the First World War and was an RAF fighter station and then an American fighter base in the second. It was the base of the first operational Spitfire squadron during WW2.
It is now home to the Imperial War Museum with aviation, tanks, military vehicles and naval exhibits as well as the Fighter Collection, The Old Flying Machine Company, The Aircraft Restoration Company, Historic Aircraft Collection, B-17 Preservation Society and others.
Duxford is in Cambridgeshire, off Junction 10 of the M11. If you are coming from the north, an alternative is to leave at Junction 11 and take the A10 to Royston, then the A505, but this is a longer route.
The Post Code (for Sat Nav) is CB22 4QR but some systems will only recognise the older code CB2 4QR.
There are links to other route planners in the Travel Advice section.
The easiest (but not the closest) train station is Cambridge, which has a direct service from London.
Alternatives are Royston and Whittlesford Parkway, which is the closest to the show.
It is best to book as far as possible in advance. This is not only because nearby hotels and guest houses tend get booked up well before the date of an airshow but also because prices can be better when you book early online.
The location is already built in to the links but please check, and change as necessary, the dates, number of rooms and number of guests.
Booking.com
There are three Premier Inn hotels in Cambridge and another four within about 20 miles of the show.
Travelodge have one hotel about 4 miles from the show, which tends to be available a little bit longer after other low-cost hotels have been fully booked. There are three more Travelodge hotels in and around Cambridge.
The Met Office 7-day forecast includes actual and "feels like" temperatures, the likelihood of rain, wind speed, wind direction, wind gusts and visibility: the latter can have an impact on the viability of displays.
The BBC's 14-day forecast has overall conditions including and hourly estimate of temperature, wind direction, wind speed and UV range.
Click the blue-text link to go to the forecast. The location is already built into the links.
Details, when available, will be on the page for the specific show
Parking usually has to be paid for and booked in advance for the major shows but not always for the Flying Days. See the page for the specific show for details.
Sat Nav CB22 4QR
For links to other travel and route planning web sites, click the 'Getting There' tab