Warbirds Over Wanaka 2020 Adds Formation Teams to Lineup

New Zealand’s two premier civilian formation flying teams have confirmed they will be performing at next year’s Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow.

One year out the New Zealand Warbirds Association’s ‘Roaring Forties’ Harvard display team and the Yak-52 display team have confirmed they will be on the flightline in Wanaka at Easter 2020.

The Harvard has been synonymous with the Airshow since the very first event in 1988, and to celebrate the 30^th Anniversary in 2018 there was a mass flypast of 11 of the aircraft type.

For 2020 the ‘Roaring Forties’ will be under the command of new Team Leader Dave Brown.  Dave says there have been a few changes in personnel as some of the older pilots hand over the baton and they’re already working up some exciting displays for upcoming airshows including Wanaka.

“We will possibly work up a 6-ship display for Wanaka and you can guarantee that the noise from a 6-ship opening loop will be impressive,” says Dave.

Meanwhile, a big crowd favourite of the past few Wanaka Airshows, the 9-ship Yak-52 team, has also confirmed they’ll be heading to Wanaka next Easter from their bases in New Plymouth and Pauanui.

New Plymouth Team Leader, Brett Emeny, says the Yak team is quite unique in that the two groups practice their routines separately and then bring them together to perfect the combined display before heading south.

“The Yak boys really love Wanaka, especially as it’s where we first performed in public our 9-ship loop, a feat which we believe was a world-first for a Yak-52 team.”

Tickets for the 2020 Airshow have been on sale for a couple of months and already sales are ahead of the same time before the last Airshow.

Event Manager, Mandy Deans, says traditionally a lot of the early interest is from international visitors and this time is no different.  “We have a number of tour groups promoting our event, particularly in Australia and the feedback and early bookings have been very positive,” says Mandy.

Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow is being held at Wanaka Airport next year, April 10^th, 11^th & 12^th 2020.   Tickets are on sale on 0800 224 224 or at www.warbirdsoverwanaka.com