What a great airshow, one might say the best yet. The airshow was a success in all areas, and we are very pleased with the overall way the event ran over the three days of Easter with no problems on the ground or in the air.

Thank you to everyone who attended, without a good attendance this airshow would not have been the success it was.
 
Good Fridays crowd was around 20,000 and this was great for what we call the practice and trade expo day. Saturday saw the airfield packed with an estimate of 50,000 people attending, and Sundays crowd was around 29000. It's always hard to estimate crowd numbers but we do know this was a better result than 2002. The weather I'm sure made a big difference and the new traffic management we put in place certainly helped with the movement of vehicles into the event.
 
Our Gold Pass area was very popular this year and was sold out four weeks prior to the event and this can only be good for next time. Approximately 48% of the patrons in this area came from offshore with the majority of this percentage coming from Australia. Tour company numbers were up this year with organised groups coming from all parts of the globe.
 
The line up of aircraft this year was one of the best with four coming from overseas. Of course aircraft such as the Kittyhawk's, Mustang's, Polikarpov's the Spitfire, and Hurricane are always popular, but the attraction for most people was the Corsair along with the Breitling Fighters. And one must say that the stars of the show were Jurgis Kairys in his Sukhoi SU-31, and the Lavochkin LA9. World War I aircraft appearing this year were a great sight, and along with all the other displays this years airshow was one of the best.
 
Our special guest Buzz Aldrin was a hit with the crowd and he went home with all praise for the show and I'm sure we will see him back in New Zealand.
 
The set up of the Trade Expo was done differently this year and we think the best yet. The Royal New Zealand Air Force came up with another great display on the ground as well as in the air. Warhorses At Wanaka excelled with their displays as did the Vintage Machinery and the Classic Fire Engines. These displays are always popular and will remain a part of this three day event.
 
Media numbers were up on previous years and once more many came from overseas. In attendance was a crew from Star TV in Asia and their footage shot at the airshow will be aired on Star World throughout Asia in July.
 
We are now in the planning for our 10th Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow in 2006 and the dates for this are April 14 15 16 (Easter).
 
The web site will be updated in September/ October this year but in the meantime you can relive the 2004 airshow by ordering the Book and or the Video/DVD from this site. Go to the merchandise section and print off the form and fax or post it to the number on the form.
 
 
Thanks again to everyone who attended and to all those who helped put this event together. Special thanks to sponsors and participants. The support from everyone this year has been great. See you again in 2006.
 
Gavin Johnston
General Manager

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