Duxford Airshows in 2024

Air Shows at IWM Duxford

Air Shows at IWM Duxford

Patrouille Suisse

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.

Background

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'.

Shows in 2022 and 2023

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.

Shows in 2024

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 DayMay 5
Summer Air Show 'D-Day 80'June 1 - 2
Flying Day: The AmericansJuly 26
Flying EveningAugust 17
Flying Day: 19 SquadronAugust 31
Duxford Battle of Britain Air ShowSeptember 14 - 15
Flying FinaleOctober 5
Alternatively, see the British Airshows calendar for a list of all known British airshows.

About IWM Duxford

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.

Getting to Duxford Airshows

By car

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.

 Directions

There are links to other route planners in the Travel Advice section.

By Train

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.

Click here to create a pocket timetable for your journey between any stations on the National Rail network.

Travel Advice

Road traffic updates
Highways Agency
Rail
Incidents and enquiries
National Railway Map
DIY pocket timetable
Journey planning by public transport
Traveline
Route planners (Road)
AA
RAC
Bing (Microsoft)

Accommodation near Duxford

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

 

Some More Options

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.

Weather for the Duxford area

UK Met Office Forecast

A full 7 day Duxford weather forecast from the UK Met Office

BBC Forecast

A 14-day forecast from the BBC

What the forecasts tell you

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.

2024 Show Basics

Dates

Click the 2024 tab for the dates of shows

Airshow links

Duxford's web site

Tickets in 2024

Details are on the page for the specific show

Car Parking

Parking usually has to be paid for and booked in advance for the major shows but not for the Flying Days. See the page for the specific show for details.

Travel

Sat Nav CB22 4QR

 Directions

For links to other travel and route planning web sites, click the 'Getting There' tab

Photos

Photos taken at Duxford airshows

 

Tweet