{"id":71900,"date":"2026-08-14T07:51:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T07:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/71900\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T07:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T07:51:24","slug":"australias-biggest-spectator-air-show-returns-to-gold-coast-after-37m-beach-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/71900\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s biggest spectator air show returns to Gold Coast after $37m beach recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

An international air show that attracts crowds of more than 200,000 has returned to the Gold Coast after being cancelled last year.<\/p>\n

The major tourist event features historical aeroplanes and fighter jets traversing the city skyline, but it was dropped last year<\/a> after Cyclone Alfred decimated the city’s beaches.<\/p>\n

The Pacific Airshow debuted in Queensland in 2023<\/a> after expanding from its main home in California, proving its popularity in 2024 when attendance jumped to more than 250,000 people.<\/p>\n

A $37 million Gold Coast City Council-led recovery effort<\/a> to pump sand back to shore and restore the coastline has enabled events to be held at the beach again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The sand dredging has worked. To me it looks like [Cyclone Alfred] never happened,” Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said.<\/p>\n

“The economic benefit in 2024 was $33 million. This weekend won’t see any less than that \u2026 it will be touching $40 million.”<\/p>\n

\"Planes<\/p>\n

A “sand rainbow” has helped to replenish Gold Coast beaches over the past 18 months, allowing the air show to go ahead. (Supplied: Pacific Airshow)<\/p>\n

Cr Tate said he was confident in the event’s popularity.<\/p>\n

“Accommodation-wise, we’re at over 80 per cent occupancy now. If we don’t hit 90 per cent of tickets sold on Saturday, I’ll buy you a beer,” he said.<\/p>\n

Experience Gold Coast chief executive John Warn said the event’s return was welcome news for local businesses.<\/p>\n

“We can’t wait to see our beautiful beaches full of people excited about the show,” he said.<\/p>\n

‘The future will be on display’<\/p>\n

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Roulettes, F-35 Lightning, C-130 Hercules and an MBB Bo-105 helicopter are among the aircraft that will be on display across the weekend, but the event has been designed with more than just fans of aviation in mind.<\/p>\n

Event director Kevin Elliott has seen each iteration of the air show so far and said he was once again excited to show off the best in the industry to crowds.<\/p>\n

“You’d expect me to talk about fancy aeroplanes \u2026 the future will be on display right here on the Gold Coast,” Mr Elliott said.<\/p>\n

\"C130<\/p>\n

The C-130 Hercules will be on display across the weekend. (Supplied: Pacific Airshow)<\/p>\n

“We’ve got [a] jet pack demonstration in Australia that took almost two-and-a-half years to get approved by [the regulator].<\/p>\n

“We’re really pushing the envelope in terms of showcasing emerging technologies.”<\/p>\n

RAAF pilots will show off their wares, including the historic No. 100 Squadron flying the Supermarine Spitfire and P-51 Mustang.<\/p>\n

RAAF Squadron Leader Sam da Graca Costa said despite being older aircraft, the display was impressive.<\/p>\n

\"RAAF<\/p>\n

The RAAF Roulettes have travelled from their base in eastern Victoria to take part in the show. (Supplied: Pacific Airshow)<\/p>\n

“Trainer aircraft like the Tiger Moth go about the same speed as a car down the highway, but the fighter aircraft on display this weekend go up to 700 kilometres an hour,” he said.<\/p>\n

Squadron Leader da Graca Costa said the Gold Coast offered an incredible backdrop for crowds and pilots alike.<\/p>\n

“I flew in yesterday and saw whales [breaching]. Where else can you get that?” he said.<\/p>\n

The air show starts today and continues tomorrow and on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An international air show that attracts crowds of more than 200,000 has returned to the Gold Coast after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[100189,22,21,100187,100191,100186,29077,100190,100188],"class_list":["post-71900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-airshow-on-the-gold-coast","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-gold-coast-beaches-fixed","tag-historical-aircraft","tag-pacific-airshow","tag-raaf","tag-raaf-roulettes","tag-when-is-the-gold-coast-airshow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}