There will be no shortage of fighter jets taking to the skies when Airshow London opens its gates for a second year.
Airshow officials announced on Friday some of the highlights of the show, which will be held on September 22, 23, and 24 at the London International Airport.
The US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Strike Fighter and US Air Force F-35 Lightning II are among the star studded lineup of performers. Those are in addition to the previously announced RCAF CF-18 Hornet and the Snowbirds, both of which are decked out with a new Canada 150 design.
The 2017 CF-188 Hornet aircraft Demonstration Jet. Photo by MCpl HJL MacRae, 4 Wing Imaging,
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"These are all demonstration teams that put on a thrilling show. These are the most amazing fighter jets in the world right now," said Dave De Kelver, executive director of Airshow London.
Mayor Matt Brown said the addition of the Hornet and F-35 Lightning make Airshow London Canada’s largest military demonstration of air power for 2017.
"An incredible team of volunteers, has worked tirelessly to make this a world class event, drawing some of the biggest and best attractions to London. Thanks to them, we can all look forward to taking in the best airshow in Canada later this year,” said Brown.
Aircrafts from the Australian and Turkish air forces have also signed on to appear at the show.
De Kelver attributes London's reputation for top-notch hospitality as well as the excellent state of the airport for the amount of aviation talent clamoring to visit the city.
"We came back for the first year after a 12 year hiatus last year, but in military circles we are well known even as a civilian airport," said De Kelver. "They know that we host and provide a great experience for the performers. We treat them like VIPs and they have a great experience here and want to come."
Last year's two-day show experienced a rain out on the first day but still managed to bring in 20,000 people on the second day. De Kelver is confident they will easily beat that attendance record this year.
"We have moved to a three day event, with a twilight show on Friday night. I would hope we top 35,000 people but we will wait to see what we get," said De Kelver. "Because of the acts that we've got coming, we'll be drawing people from outside of the city quite a bit this year I expect."
Online tickets for the airshow went onsale on Friday. They are available at airshowlondon.com.