Dear Friends, Fans and Followers!
A few months ago, at the threshold of the new air show season, we have discussed here our plans for this year. The aviation event calendar for 2020 promised many interesting opportunities, featuring several attractive events as NATO Tiger Meet in Portugal, CROIMAS in Croatia or Danish Air Show. In fact, our travelling schedule for 2020 was then among the most discussed subjects.
Who would have known that the first European air show in 2020 would be organized without any spectators? And our report from the show would be based on the live broadcast we have seen on our screens at home?
Strange days… with no doubts. One sub-microscopic infectious agent have changed our world completely, to our surprise. Although the European countries are slowly returning to normal activities, that small rascal is still here. Still there are many places in the world that are just in the middle of coronavirus outbreak. This, together with the fear of so-called ´second wave´, means that organizing any mass scale events – including air shows, aviation fairs and similar actions – is still postponed indefinitely.
All aviation events, previously planned for April, May and June, are cancelled or postponed for 2021. Those scheduled for the second part of the year are slowly following, and several significant cancellations were announced in the past weeks. At this moment, it could be assumed that we are going to witness the first year without any aviation events.
Regrettably, there is still no clear message from authorities, regarding the current precautions and limitations, the time they would be in place and what comes next. Some countries are slowly increasing the number of people allowed to gather together, some are even thinking about restarting the football leagues and other sport events – but, on the other hand, we can hear that events with thousand participants would not be allowed not only this year, but also during 2021.
And it is not surprising that some organizers are waiting for the last minute with their decision, for the moment officially announcing that the preparations are ongoing. Certainly, we would like to see the world returning to ´status quo ante´ and would be happy to see our beloved birds in the sky, but… Personally, I don´t think it would be possible this year – well, I hope I´m wrong.
In the meantime we can enjoy the broadcasted events, several flypasts that are organized all over the world to boost the morale and commemorating a few important events. On our web site and Facebook fan page we will continue with recalling the air shows from the past year, in our ´air show throwback´ series. In addition, we are going to keep you informed about the cancelled and postponed events.
For many of us, aviation is not only a hobby, but also a profession or a lifestyle. Additionally, some of us were also affected by the coronavirus measures on a professional field. Nevertheless, I know we can get through this together, and believe the troubled times would be over soon.
Stay safe!
Jacek Domański, Editor-in-Chief
