Hi Reader,
This week the calendar took a hit. RIAT, the biggest weekend in the British aviation year, has been pulled from the 2026 diary. There is more going on too, including the strongest start to a year UK aviation has ever recorded, and a story about the Spitfire that sounds like fiction but is not.
For the first time in a generation, RAF Fairford will be quiet in July.
The Royal International Air Tattoo, the show that draws more than 170,000 people to a Gloucestershire airfield every summer, has been cancelled for 2026. Organisers cited uncertainty over access to the base, which is currently being used for real-world bomber operations linked to the conflict involving Iran. Ticket holders can roll over to 2027, claim a refund, or donate the cost to the RAF Charitable Trust.
This is not the first time RIAT has been called off. Covid took the 2020 and 2021 editions. But losing the show to live military operations rather than a pandemic feels different. It is a reminder that Fairford is a working airbase first and a public venue second, and that when the wider world tilts, the airshow calendar tilts with it.
The cancellation hits in three layers. There is the personal one, for the cadets, volunteers, and families who plan their year around the July weekend. There is the business one, for the hoteliers, traders, and small operators who rely on it. And there is the cultural one, because for a lot of people who later trained as pilots, engineers, or controllers, a day at RIAT was the moment the spark was lit.
Airshows do not just entertain. They recruit. Pulling one of the largest from the calendar for a year is more than a logistical loss, it is a quiet dent in the pipeline that brings young people into aviation in the first place.
The 2027 show is already being planned. Mark the diary.
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UK AVIATION RECORDS ITS STRONGEST START TO A YEAR
The Civil Aviation Authority reports that UK passenger numbers hit a record high in the opening months of 2026. Demand has stayed firm despite turbulence in fuel prices and global politics. The CAA also opened a consultation on the regulatory framework for Heathrow expansion in mid-May. The headline takeaway is that the British flying public is travelling more, not less.
SPIRIT AIRLINES CEASES OPERATIONS
Spirit Airlines, the American ultra-low-cost carrier, ended all operations on 2 May after a final attempt to secure a federal rescue package failed. The Florida-based airline announced an immediate orderly wind-down. For pilots and crew, this is the largest US airline closure in years, and a reminder that even at the peak of a hiring boom, individual carriers can still fold.
US PILOT HIRING REMAINS HISTORICALLY HIGH
Major US airlines are projected to hire more than 7,600 pilots in 2026, with United alone targeting around 2,500. Industry analysts now describe the bottleneck as a shortage of designated examiners and simulator time rather than a shortage of student interest. Regional carriers continue to feel the squeeze hardest as majors hoover up experienced captains.
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THE SPITFIRE MAY BE BUILT AGAIN A British design team has revealed a full-scale concept for a modern Spitfire built using composite materials, modern propulsion, and contemporary avionics. The aim is a recreational aircraft priced around £750,000 that keeps the lines and character of the original while meeting present-day standards. A concept model is touring British events through the summer.
RYANAIR CLOSES BERLIN BASE Ryanair will close its seven-aircraft base at Berlin Brandenburg from 24 October, citing rising airport charges. It is a familiar Ryanair playbook, and a signal of how sensitive low-cost economics still are to airport pricing. Berlin loses the capacity. Other German airports are expected to compete for the redeployed aircraft.
FROM THE COMMUNITY
If you are a student pilot reading this, you are training into one of the strongest hiring environments aviation has ever produced. That is the good news. The harder news is that strong environments still demand patience. Examiner backlogs, weather, aircraft availability, none of it cares how motivated you are this week. Keep showing up. The people who finish are not always the most talented, they are the ones who refuse to disappear.
SIGN-OFF
That is the week. RIAT will be back in 2027, the Spitfire might be back full stop, and the cockpits are still opening up faster than they can be filled. Drop into the Student Pilot Community on Facebook if you want to talk any of it through, and I will see you here next Friday.
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