Red Arrows 2026: what is left of the season

The Red Arrows have put their full 2026 schedule out, and for anyone in the South West, the best dates have already come and gone. The team, based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, flies BAE Systems Hawk T1s powered by Rolls-Royce Adour engines, and the 2026 season has been a busy one, taking them across the UK, Europe and even over to the United States.

Closest to home, the English Riviera Airshow in Torbay was the centrepiece. It ran from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 May, with the Red Arrows appearing on the 29th at 6.45pm and again on the 30th at midday. For a display like that, the best spots to watch from are Daddyhole Plain, Beacon Quay, Meadfoot Beach and Thatcher Point in Torquay, Berry Head and Battery Gardens in Brixham, and Roundham Head and the end of Paignton Pier in Paignton. The team also flew over the South West again later in the summer, though that leg didn't go to plan: the Lyme Regis Lifeboat Week display, set for 11.30am on Sunday 16 August, was cancelled because of bad weather over the northeast of Canada, and the Lyme Regis and Sidmouth Regatta flypasts on 28 August were also called off.

Across the rest of the UK, the season has been packed. There was a rehearsal at RAF Coningsby in March, a flypast at RAF Brize Norton on 29 May, and displays at the Midlands Air Festival, the Isle of Man TT Races, the RAF Cosford Airshow and the Airbourne Eastbourne International Airshow. The team also flew the King's Official Birthday flypast on 13 June. The most recent UK appearances have been at the Southport Airshow, with displays on 29 and 30 August, and the Manchester Royal Infirmary flypast on the 30th.

There is still a bit left to catch if you are willing to travel. The International Ayr Show on the Scottish seafront runs on 4 and 5 September, the Guernsey and Jersey displays follow on the 9th and 10th, and the Duxford Battle of Britain Airshow at the Imperial War Museum on 12 September is one of the bigger ones, with adults 16 and over at £49.50 and children 15 and under free. The season then winds down with the Duxford Flying Finale on 3 October.

Behind the scenes, the team is made up of 11 pilots and around 100 engineering and support staff. They fly seven Hawk T1s for a normal aerobatic display, keeping a nine-aircraft formation for major departures and official events, and the whole RAF Hawk T1 fleet is set to be retired by 2030. The display you see depends on the weather: a full display with loops needs a cloud base above 5,500 feet, a rolling one with wing-overs and rolls sits between 2,500 and 5,500 feet, and anything below 2,500 feet becomes a flat display of flypasts and steep turns. Winter training starts back up in October or November and runs through to early spring, so the 2027 calendar will only start to take shape after that.