Air VG 2024

[F-BSHM]

Where did you see the info about needing a permit? I've been reading several spotting guides over the past few days and I haven't seen any mention of this.

AIRVG has now stated that spotter registration is closed as it is already full but they also stated that the "permit for spotting" will be necessary for those who didn't get a spotter pass with the same document I sent earlier to fill-in and send to the airport authorities.

[Adam]

Where did you see the info about needing a permit? I've been reading several spotting guides over the past few days and I haven't seen any mention of this.

AIRVG has now stated that spotter registration is closed as it is already full but they also stated that the "permit for spotting" will be necessary for those who didn't get a spotter pass with the same document I sent earlier to fill-in and send to the airport authorities.

Interesting...

I am especially entertained by this bit:

We would like to inform that all the positions for spotters at the parking lot have been filled! Spotters who want to be on the airport fence must go through the MZLZ procedure

By publishing this, and a map of approved airport spotting locations around the perimiter fence, the organisers are effectively encouraging the use of external viewing locations that are almost certainly under the aerobatic box!

[F-BSHM]

We would like to inform that all the positions for spotters at the parking lot have been filled! Spotters who want to be on the airport fence must go through the MZLZ procedure

By publishing this, and a map of approved airport spotting locations around the perimiter fence, the organisers are effectively encouraging the use of external viewing locations that are almost certainly under the aerobatic box!

Totally right yes ! Honestly, I don't really know what to expect from the fighters, a full display or just some nice low-pass... I think that they will only perform low-pass.

If you go on Friday as well, I would be interested to know what they do during the rehearsal if there is any.

Further info about the spotter accreditation should arrive at the end of the week / beginning next week. I would love to be on the "good" side of the runway but I don't think that they will make us cross the runway anyway.

At the moment, the weather prediction is really cloudy so at least the sun is not a problem anymore but that might change !

[Adam]

The organisers have been answering some questions about the spotter area on the 9Aero group.

Someone asked about how the spotter area will be laid out. The reply:

There will be no grandstand because the spotter position will be parallel to the runway, the first row next to the fence up to 200 meters in length, some 250 meters from the runway. The crowd will be left behind you. The main limiting factor for AIRVG2024 is that the airport must function normally and in compliance with all regulations. We invite you to collegiate, no parasols, let's all fry together.

This, plus the spotting map on the AirVG website, suggests the spotters will have a very big zone on the grass and/or the tarmac GA apron next to the main taxiway, and the regular public will be on the concrete apron in front of the old terminal building.


Also interesting to note, this morning there was a two-ship MiG/Rafale formation flight over Zagreb Airport. Maybe a rehearsal of something we can expect on 11th May?

I agree, a full aerobatic display from the fighters would be quite surprising.

[F-BSHM]

Okay thank you for this ! It seems quite good

Yes, I have just seen the video published in one of the spotter group.

Let's see what happens ... (Also, an Ukrainian An32 arrived at Zagreb yesterday and is currently parked on the military apron, let's hope it remains there for 10 more days ).

[FlyRed]

Not surprising the spotters location filled up as it is quite small. I also think it's a way to control who is outside the fence as I assume the area is going to be the usual European spotting madness.

Request for outside photography has been sent so hopefully that works out as I want to be on the (hopefully) sunny side. Although shame to miss the MiGs on static.

As for aircraft displays, a few passes is all that should be expected. A two-ship would make a lot of sense as a ceremonial torch passing.

[Adam]

Not surprising the spotters location filled up as it is quite small. I also think it's a way to control who is outside the fence as I assume the area is going to be the usual European spotting madness.

I'm not necessarily convinced that'll be the case, or that "spotting madness" is indeed usual here. Certainly there are plenty of Radoms and Pratica di Mares out there, but for every one of those, there's an Airpower, a Danish Airshow or a Leszno with carefully-capped spotter numbers, generously-sized and fantastically-equipped photo pits, astonishing levels of autonomy afforded to spotters, and great hospitality.

It'll all hinge on how many spotters they've accepted, of course. I'd be very interested to know. But this is a low profile show, announced late, with a minimal social media/web presence. None of the big websites like European Airshows or The Aviationist seem to have picked up on it, and neither have most of the aviation forums (only one other forum I've seen has an AirVG thread, and they got the news from here!). A decent number of spotters will probably try their luck outside, to get better light. I'm certainly not resigned to the fact that it'll definitely be madness in there. I'm braced for either end of the spectrum.

[Adam]

Confirmation here of the total capacity of the airshow - just 5,000 tickets were on sale. A good sign that it won't be too hectic in there, I hope.

Huge interest in the air show: 5,000 tickets for AIRVG sold out in a few hours

https://www.kronikevg.com/ogroman-inter ... Ez67QEFShd

Seperately, the event ticket page confirmed a few important things during the brief period when it was live, including the fact that visitors cannot bring their own food and drink into the airshow. It also implied that special bus services will run to the airshow - more information to follow.

[F-BSHM]

Honestly, 5000 tickets, it's nothing !
I didn't need a ticket as I already registered as a spotter but if I were a Croatian national, I would be quite angry to not be able to witness the first airshow in my country for 6 years...

As per the NOTAMs available, the airshow will take place on the GA apron + the stands W11 to the GA apron so quite a big area. 5 000 people on this area is no

By the way, something I noticed on the Krila Oluje Facebook, they said "you will be able to see civilian and military aircrafts", at the moment, no civilian aircrafts have been announced so let's see what comes out (except if they talk about the commercial traffic...) !

[FlyRed]

Still torn on inside vs outside, probably depend on the weather. Looking forward to seeing the MiG and Rafale either way. While they have received a fair bit on negativity, so far the organization, information available and email/social response times I've found to be very good from the show and the airport. Hoping for a flying schedule to be released next week.