Airshows in Europe: the guide for plane spotters

At the fence of a commercial airport you sometimes wait for hours for that one special aircraft. At an airshow the special comes every few minutes: fighter jets, transports, aerobatic teams, historic propeller aircraft and prototypes you never see in scheduled service. Airshows in Europe are therefore one of the highlights of the year for many plane spotters. This guide shows you which events are worth it, how often they take place, how to prepare and how to come home with clean pictures. We deliberately don’t give specific dates – they change too often. Always check them directly with the organizer.

Airshows for spotters: the short answer

For plane spotters there are three kinds of events in Europe that are really worth it: big military airshows with hours of flying program, trade shows with public days where manufacturers show their newest models, and vintage and museum flying days with historic aircraft. The big trade shows alternate from year to year, while military shows often take place irregularly. If you plan early, know the light side and keep the public days in mind, you get the most out of each of these events.

Military airshow or trade show?

Before you book tickets, it is worth looking at the character of the event. The two big formats differ clearly.

Feature	Military airshow	Trade show
Examples	RIAT, AIRPOWER, Bundeswehr Day at air bases	Paris Air Show, ILA Berlin, Farnborough
Focus	Flying program, aerobatic teams, operational types	New products from manufacturers, trade audience, static exhibition
Access for private visitors	usually on all show days	only on public days, mostly on the weekend
Typical subjects	Fighter jets, transports like the A400M and C-130, helicopters	new airliners, business jets, drones, military equipment
Rhythm	annual or irregular	every two years

For pure photographers, military shows are often more productive because the flying program is longer. Trade shows score with exotics: manufacturers like Airbus or Boeing like to bring test aircraft or new models there that are still rare in scheduled service.

The big names at a glance

Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), England

RIAT at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire is considered the world’s largest military airshow. It takes place every July and often shows more than 200 aircraft from many countries over one weekend. The show is held in aid of the RAF Charitable Trust. For visitors there are various ticket tiers, plus paid areas with grandstands or front-row photo zones. You should plan parking, shuttle buses or park-and-ride early, together with your ticket. For spotters RIAT is a kind of must-do – but expect big crowds and a corresponding amount of planning.

Paris Air Show, Le Bourget

The Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport north of Paris is one of the most important aerospace trade shows in the world. It takes place in odd years and lasts a week: the first four days belong to trade visitors, and from Friday to Sunday the grounds are open to everyone. Besides the static exhibition there is a flying program in which airliners also fly their routines. If you want to see the big manufacturers and their current models in one place, this is the right spot. On your way there, take a look at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is very close by.

ILA Berlin Air Show

ILA takes place in even years at the Berlin ExpoCenter Airport, right next to BER Airport. Its history goes back to 1909, when the first edition took place in Frankfurt am Main; for decades it ran in Hanover, and since 1992 it has been back in Berlin. Here too the first days are reserved for trade visitors, followed by public days on the weekend. A tip for your arrival day: from the observation deck at BER you can catch the scheduled traffic in parallel.

Farnborough International Airshow, England

Farnborough is the English counterpart to Paris and also takes place in even years in July. In 2019, however, the organizers announced that they would not continue the classic public flying days on the weekend; since then Farnborough has been essentially a trade show. Whether and on which days private visitors can get in, you have to check anew for each edition.

AIRPOWER, Zeltweg (Austria)

AIRPOWER at Hinterstoisser Air Base in Zeltweg in Styria is organized by the Austrian Armed Forces together with the state of Styria and Red Bull. Admission was free most recently, and visitor numbers run into the hundreds of thousands. The show doesn’t take place every year – the eleventh edition ran in 2024. The organizer announces when it will continue.

More events with spotter potential

• Sanicole Airshow (Belgium): At the airfield in Hechtel-Eksel in September, besides the classic day show there is a Sunset Airshow in the evening – a dream for backlight and silhouette fans. If you are in Belgium anyway, a detour to the Steenokkerzeel spotter zone at Brussels Airport is worthwhile.
• Radom Air Show (Poland): The Polish Armed Forces’ show most recently took place mostly every two years on the last weekend of August. The 2025 edition was canceled after the fatal crash of an F-16 during a rehearsal, and how the show will continue is currently open.
• Bundeswehr Day (Tag der Bundeswehr): Since 2015 the German armed forces have generally opened several sites on a Saturday in June each year, including air bases from time to time. Which sites take part changes from year to year.
• Axalp live-fire demonstration (Fliegerschießen Axalp, Switzerland): Here the Swiss Air Force shows its jets against an alpine backdrop at about 2,250 meters in the Bernese Oberland. The demonstration traditionally took place in early October, but not in 2024 and 2025. Check before every plan whether it is offered again.
• Luchtmachtdagen (Netherlands): The open days of the Royal Netherlands Air Force rotated between Volkel, Leeuwarden and Gilze-Rijen. They have not taken place since 2019.
• Duxford (England): The Imperial War Museum Duxford regularly holds airshows with historic aircraft. The famous “Flying Legends” ran there annually until 2019.

Why stricter rules apply in Germany

If you know airshows in England or France, you may sometimes wonder about the more restrained flying programs in Germany. The reason is the Ramstein airshow disaster of 1988, in which 70 people died. Immediately afterward, aerobatic displays were banned in Germany and only permitted again about three years later under strict conditions: minimum altitudes and minimum distances to the crowd, no maneuvers over or toward the spectators, and every maneuver subject to prior approval. Military jet formations were allowed to fly for a long time only at ILA, and complex formation breaks were prohibited there until 2012.

For you as a photographer that means: the aircraft stay at a distance, and you need more focal length than at some shows abroad.

The right gear

An airshow demands more flexibility than a day at the airport fence. You constantly switch between fast jets, slow propeller aircraft, helicopters and the static exhibition.

• Telephoto zoom for the flying program: A zoom in the range of 100–400 mm or 150–600 mm covers most of it. You can find more on choosing a focal length in the guide lenses for plane spotting.
• Wide-angle or standard zoom for the static show: On the ground you stand close to large aircraft. A 24–70 mm or similar lens fits better than the telephoto.
• Spare batteries and large memory cards: With burst shots of formation flights the card fills up faster than you think.
• Hearing protection: Fighter jets on afterburner are very loud – for children, earmuff-style hearing protection is a must, and for adults it is highly recommended.
• Sun and rain protection: There is hardly any shade on airfields. A hat, sunscreen and a light rain jacket belong in your bag.

You can find the complete packing list for a spotting day in the gear checklist.

Camera settings for jets and propellers

The most important rule at any airshow: jets and propeller aircraft need different shutter speeds.

Subject	Shutter speed (guideline)	Why
Jets on a pass	1/1000 s and faster	freezes fast motion, no propeller to consider
Propeller aircraft	about 1/125–1/250 s	propeller arc stays visible, picture looks lively
Helicopters	even slower	rotor blades turn more slowly than propellers
Static show	as needed, aperture for depth of field	subject stands still, light and perspective count

With long exposure times on a telephoto, clean panning becomes crucial. How to practice it is covered in the article photographing propellers: the right shutter speed. The basic settings for autofocus and burst mode are explained in the guide camera settings for plane spotting.

For aerobatic teams with smoke it is worth switching to a somewhat shorter focal length: the shapes in the sky only work as a whole, not in a frame-filling crop.

Light and position: the best spot at the fence

The flying program runs parallel to the so-called display line, and the crowd stands on one side of it. That largely fixes the direction of the light for the whole day – you can only decide where along the crowd line you stand and when you shoot.

• Check the orientation beforehand: Look at a map to see which direction you face from the spectator area. If you face south, you will be shooting into backlight at midday.
• Use the edges of the day: In the morning and late afternoon the sun is lower and more from the side. Many shows put the highlights in the afternoon, though – check the program.
• Pick the end of the line: At the ends of the spectator zone it is often quieter, and aircraft turn toward you there.

How to bring sun azimuth and viewing direction together is shown in the guide planning with the sun position. And if the sun is against you anyway: smoke, water vapor and silhouettes often work better in backlight than in front light.

Static show: the underrated part

Many spotters concentrate on the flying program and forget the static exhibition. Yet that is where you find aircraft that you only see from a long distance in everyday life: tankers, maritime patrol aircraft, transports or government jets. For registration collectors the static show is especially valuable, because registrations and serial numbers can be read up close. How to place military identifiers and civil registrations is explained in the article understanding aircraft registrations.

It is best to photograph the static show first thing in the morning, while few people stand between you and the aircraft. Details like squadron badges, nose art or engines are also good subjects at midday, when overall views are hardly possible because of the crowd.

Around the show: arrival and departure days

Many participants fly in during the days before a military show and fly out again afterward. For some spotters these days are more exciting than the show itself, because the aircraft land and take off in normal flight operations. Whether and where you can watch them is up to the organizer or the airfield operator. On military grounds, separate rules apply – the guide photographing military airfields: the rules summarizes what is allowed.

At trade shows near big commercial airports, a detour to the public spots is worthwhile. Special guests like government aircraft show up fairly often around such events; tips are in the article spotting government aircraft.

Alternatives without an airshow date

Not every year does a big show fit into the calendar. You can also see historic aircraft in museums, such as the Technik Museum Speyer or the Flugwerft Schleißheim near Munich. A look behind the scenes of a commercial airport is possible on an apron tour. And if you are looking for unusual types in everyday life, the article spotting rare aircraft offers strategies.

What to watch out for

• Respect barriers: The display line and safety zones exist for a reason. If you climb fences, you risk being thrown out of the event.
• No drones: A flight ban for private drones generally applies over airshows. What is allowed around airfields is covered in the article drones at airports.
• Be considerate in the front row: Don’t set up ladders or tripods in the middle of the crowd if they block others’ view – many organizers regulate this in their house rules.
• Plan your departure: After the last display everyone wants to go home at once. If you stay a little longer, you spend less time in traffic.

Conclusion

Every year Europe offers plane spotters at least one big aerospace trade show and a number of military and vintage events. RIAT is the classic for flying-program fans, Paris and ILA are the addresses for new models, and AIRPOWER most recently scored with free admission. Because dates and formats keep changing, the rule always applies: check the official website, book early, know the light side. Then the airshow becomes the highlight of your spotting season.