Royal Victorian Aero Club -

25 August 2009

Avalon Dates Announced  

Organisers of the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defence Exposition have announced the dates for Avalon 2011.
The industry only exposition and public Airshow will be held from Tuesday March 1st to Sunday March 6th at Avalon Airport near Geelong.
Event CEO Ian Honnery says the early March date was chosen to avoid another unfortunate clash with the Australian Grand Prix.
“Despite our dates for the event this year having been announced well in advance, we were forced to change because of the Grand Prix,” Mr Honnery says.
“We have now been advised that it is highly likely the Grand Prix will continue to be held at the same time in March, so we have decided to stage our event on the first weekend of the month to avoid another potential clash.”
The Royal Australian Air Force, one of the major stakeholders in staging the Australian International Airshow, is supporting the early March date.
The RAAF celebrates its 90th anniversary in March 2011 and those celebrations will form the main theme for the 2011 Airshow.
“We expect Avalon to be the centre piece of the 90th anniversary celebrations, and with support from the RAAF, we expect more international military aircraft participation from a wider range of countries than ever before,” Mr Honnery says.“We are thrilled at the prospect that Avalon 2011 may attract some of the world’s most exciting and rarely seen aircraft.”
Before finalising the dates, the Avalon 2011 organisers, in addition, consulted with a broad range of other stakeholders – including the Victorian Government and Geelong City Council.
The March 1st – 6th dates have also been chosen to fit in with other international aerospace defence exhibitions and to avoid clashing with the Moomba (Labour day) long weekend in Victoria.
The Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defence Exposition will be held from the 1st – 6th of March, 2011 at Avalon Airport, Geelong.