The Shuttleworth airshow 2026 season features 7 themed shows running from May to October at Old Warden Aerodrome, Bedfordshire. Building on a record-breaking 2025 season with more than 30,000 visitors, the 2026 programme includes a fresh theme, expanded attractions, and the return of much-loved favourites. Every show is held at Old Warden Aerodrome, near Biggleswade, home of the world-famous Shuttleworth Collection.
For official aviation safety context, see the UK Civil Aviation Authority. For the previous guide in this series, see Paris Airshow 2026: 5 Key Facts, 2025 Results, and the Next Show Date.
What Is the Shuttleworth Airshow?
The Shuttleworth airshow is a series of themed aviation events staged monthly between May and October at Old Warden Aerodrome in Bedfordshire. As well as the resident historic aircraft, most shows include visiting aircraft chosen to suit the show’s theme. Old Warden is a relatively small venue where flying feels closer to the crowd than at bigger airfields.
The Shuttleworth Collection is spread over 875 acres of parkland. Visitors can witness live demonstrations in the workshops and explore 6 spacious hangars that house a wide range of historic artefacts. The collection holds rare, airworthy examples spanning from early aviation to the mid-20th century.
What Are the Shuttleworth Airshow 2026 Dates?
The Shuttleworth airshow 2026 season runs across 7 shows from 10 May to 4 October. The full confirmed schedule is:
| Date | Show |
| Sunday 10 May | Season Premiere |
| Saturday 30 May | Wings & Wheels (new for 2026) |
| Saturday 27 – Sunday 28 June | Festival of Flight |
| Saturday 25 July | Summer Air Show |
| Saturday 15 August | Flying Proms |
| Saturday 29 August | Military Show |
| Sunday 4 October | Race Day |
The programme for 2026 is largely the same as for 2025, but the Military Airshow has a new August date, there is a new Wings and Wheels show incorporating the Collection’s motoring theme, and the Best of British show has been dropped.
What Is the Shuttleworth Festival of Flight 2026?
The Festival of Flight is the flagship 2-day event of the Shuttleworth airshow season, held on 27–28 June 2026. Widely considered one of the best displays in the country, the event expands in 2026 to feature the most ground attractions and visiting aircraft of any Shuttleworth show. Across the weekend, all serviceable Collection aircraft take to the skies.
Visiting aircraft announcements started on New Year’s Day 2026 with no fewer than 5 aircraft from the Flying Bulls confirmed to fly on both days, marking their first appearance at Old Warden.
On the ground, visitors can enjoy attractions including funfair rides, stunt shows, parades, interactive discovery zones, plus Shuttleworth House and the Swiss Garden to explore. Visitors can enhance their visit with flightline tours at an additional cost, allowing small groups onto the airfield to see aircraft up close.
New for 2026, a Camping Bundle ticket allows visitors to stay on site across the full Festival weekend. Camping pitches are available at £25 per night.
What Is New at the Shuttleworth Airshow 2026?
The Shuttleworth airshow 2026 introduces 3 new elements not present in previous seasons.
1. Wings & Wheels Air Show (30 May). Shuttleworth introduces Wings & Wheels, a new theme combining aviation, vehicles, and heritage machinery. As well as afternoon and evening flying, visitors can expect a racing simulator, a show-and-shine area, and live performances centred around a new Shuttleworth Marquee.
2. Grand Marquee at Flying Proms. New for 2026, visitors can book a table in the Grand Marquee to get entry to the show, a flag, a programme, and the best view of the night, as well as access to an exclusive bar. A private pod option is also available.
3. Camping Bundle for Festival of Flight. A new ticketing option that combines show entry with on-site camping across the full Festival weekend.
What Aircraft Are at the Shuttleworth Airshow 2026?
The Shuttleworth Collection holds approximately 40 airworthy aircraft across 8 hangars. The collection includes the Blériot Type XI, identical to the aircraft that first crossed the English Channel in 1909, and the Bristol Boxkite, built for the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. World War I aircraft include the Avro 504K, Sopwith Pup, Bristol F.2b, and S.E.5a. Later aircraft include the De Havilland Tiger Moth, Avro Tutor, Gloster Gladiator, Hawker Hurricane, and Supermarine Spitfire.
At the Season Premiere on 10 May, confirmed visiting aircraft include the XtremeAir XA41, designed specifically for energetic aerobatic displays, and the Douglas C-47 Dakota, one of the most famous transport aircraft in aviation history. The Royal Air Force Falcons Parachute Display Team are also confirmed. Alongside these visitors, Collection aircraft — including the world’s oldest airworthy aircraft, the Blériot Type XI — will fly.
The Blériot Type XI, registered G-AANG, dates back to 1909 — 6 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight — and is the world’s oldest airworthy aeroplane.
What Is the Flying Proms Airshow at Shuttleworth?
The Flying Proms is Shuttleworth’s signature evening airshow, held on 15 August 2026. Aerobatics and pyrotechnics are choreographed to live music performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, before a spectacular firework finale. Previous themed collaborations have included the Westland Lysander in its Special Operations livery flying to the James Bond Theme, and the iconic red DH.88 Comet flying to the theme from E.T.
The Flying Proms airshow closes with a fireworks display and features flying formations set to iconic film soundtracks, including James Bond and E.T.
Note: children under 18 do not attend Flying Proms for free — this is the only Shuttleworth show where the standard free child entry does not apply.
What Is the Shuttleworth Military Show 2026?
The Shuttleworth Military Show takes place on 29 August 2026. Visitors can walk amongst the ever-growing Military Camp area, comprised of vehicles, reenactments, and machinery, before watching a display of military aircraft types from across the years.
Shuttleworth’s collection of retired military vehicles returns to service for the day. Visitors can watch military aircraft in flight and walk through the military camp.
What Is the History of the Shuttleworth Collection?
The Shuttleworth Collection was founded in 1928 by aviator and racing driver Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth. While flying a Fairey Battle at night on 2 August 1940, Shuttleworth fatally crashed. His mother, in 1944, formed the Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth Remembrance Trust for the teaching of the science and practice of aviation and of afforestation and agriculture.
The collection opened to the public in 1963 and boasts some of the last remaining airworthy aircraft of their type anywhere in the world.
Restoration and maintenance work is carried out by 12 full-time and many volunteer engineers. These volunteers are all members of the 3,000-strong Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society.
What Tickets and Admission Are Available for the Shuttleworth Airshow 2026?
Tickets for the Shuttleworth airshow 2026 are available at shuttleworth.org/airshows. Key admission facts:
- Children under 18 attend all shows free (excluding Flying Proms)
- Parking is free at all shows
- Flightline tours cost £15 per person on selected shows and allow access onto the airfield
- Groups of 15 or more receive additional discounts
- On-site accommodation includes 15 en-suite rooms adjacent to the mansion house
- Camping pitches are available at £25 per night
For just £15 per person, on select shows visitors can step onto the airfield itself to get right up close to incredible aircraft with a flightline tour. These are very popular and sell out quickly.
How Do You Get to the Shuttleworth Airshow?
Old Warden Aerodrome is located near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, with postcode SG18 9DT for sat-nav. The aerodrome is approximately 2 miles to the west of the A1 near Biggleswade. It is about 20 miles from Junction 13 of the M1 and approximately 30 miles from Junction 23 of the M25. It is signposted from the A1 at Biggleswade. Once local show signs are visible, follow those in preference to sat-nav directions.
Alex Bradley is a UK-based aviation writer and airshow circuit regular who has spent years attending displays from RIAT at Fairford and the Biggin Hill Festival of Flight to small fly-ins that drew two hundred people and a hot dog van, and values both for entirely different reasons.
He is not a pilot. He is not a PR man for the aviation industry. He is the person in the crowd who has been coming long enough to notice when something has quietly changed, when an organiser is papering over a problem, and when a display is genuinely worth the drive.
His writing on Redhill Airshow covers the British airshow circuit, safety, display team politics, CAA regulations, and the quiet contraction of grass airfield culture that nobody in the industry wants to discuss plainly.
He has stood at Redhill Aerodrome in every kind of English summer weather, watched Tiger Moths bank low over Surrey farmland, and carries strong opinions about what this country is slowly losing one cancelled event at a time.
