There were packed crowds in Southport anticipating a display from the amazing Red Arrows, a highlight of this year’s  Southport Air Show. Sadly the Red Arrows did not appear in the skies as they were grounded at Blackpool Airport due to a wet runway.

Wing Commander Adam Collins posted this message, ‘We’re disappointed that we couldn’t display at the Southport airshow, but unexpected heavy showers, localised to Blackpool meant the runway would not be safe for us to land on after the display. None of the other airfields close to Southport were available for use this weekend. Unfortunately, the runway wouldn’t have dried in time for our display. Delaying until later in the day isn’t an option – we have a large column of restricted airspace specifically for our safety that is only active for a few minutes either side of our planned display time window. That restricted airspace time window is booked weeks in advance with the Civil Aviation Authority and cannot be changed on the day. It’s limited in duration to allow other aircraft into the area when we’re not planning to fly.’

A Spokesperson for the Red Arrows added, ‘Unfortunately, our display at Southport Air Show has been cancelled due to a very wet runway at the operating base of Blackpool Airport and low cloud, unsuitable for close formation display flying.’