Pacific Airshow Gold Coast 2024: Future of event revealed after record-breaking crowds
A “record crowd” has packed Surfers Paradise for the second annual Pacific Airshow, with plans now afoot to lock the event in for the foreseeable future.
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A “record crowd” of more than 400,000 people has packed Surfers Paradise for the second annual Pacific Airshow, with political and tourism leaders vowing to lock the event in for the foreseeable future.
The final figures are yet to be tallied but organisers have been wowed by the size of the crowds for the event, with some estimating the daily numbers were up to three times larger than 2023.
The city’s population swelled by more than 400,000, with more than 125,000 packing on to the beaches daily, while airshow bosses are comparing the size of the boat flotilla off the coast to that of Sydney Harbour on New Year’s Eve.
The beachfront was packed as far as the eye could see, from Main Beach to Miami, as well as balconies of hotels and towers in Surfers Paradise as delighted fans soaked up demonstrations by some of the world’s most powerful fighter jets, including the F-18 Super Hornet, F-22 Raptor and the showstopper – the F-35 Lightning. The event is in the second year of a five-year contract but Mayor Tom Tate said councillors would look to renegotiate well beforehand to lock it in for a far more extended run.
“This is one of our top-three marquee events and it just adds to our arsenal of entertainment,” he said.
“I think we will jump on (securing a longer-term deal) well before this contract ends and in my view, that would give the Airshow organisers certainty and will mean additional investment.
“Looking around all the smiles, there’s not one part of the (beach) not taken up by the show and the best part is that once each part is done, the next part starts so is rock n roll all through the day.
“This is the best advertisement you could have.”
The event post-mortem will begin on Monday but organisers are already looking forward to 2025.
New features which are expected to be looked at include beach concerts, a tweaked schedule and more community events and engagement.
An even larger ticketed precinct, which this year was already 500m longer than the inaugural event, is also tipped.
The number of people on the beach on Sunday alone was expected to be well-above 100,000 people.
The push has been backed by Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn who has praised the big crowds and massive economic benefits.
“We have been delighted at this year’s airshow building on the success of 2023 and it must be a record, beating last year’s figures,” he said.
“This is an amazing event and we know we get north of $25m in economic value which is great news for the Gold Coast. We see this as a long-term event and it fits the Gold Coast perfectly.
“We have tweaked the program, added some new elements and brought in different aircraft and changed the program because it keeps the people who have been here coming back, as well as the people who haven’t curious.
“We want to build this as an iconic event for Australia, not just the Gold Coast and the sky is the limit, quite literally.”
Pacific Airshow director Kevin Elliott said he was delighted by the surging crowds.
“The shops are teeming, people are everywhere and the crowds have to be double or even triple what they were last year,” he said.
“It makes us feel really good and validates all the hard work everyone has done because it is a community effort.
“I would say our displays are 100 per cent better than last year and the aviators have really risen to the occasion.”
Mr Elliott said he was already looking ahead to 2025.
“It will be a challenge (to top ourselves next year) but there has to be something up your sleeve,” he said.
“We will try and keep it interesting and fresh and the airshow will continue to be great as we enhance it.”
Businesses throughout the precinct reported an uptick in foot traffic across the weekend.
Hotel occupancy in Surfers Paradise topped 100 per cent while Mr Warn said occupancy across the entire city was above 95 per cent across the weekend.
“Peppers Soul was fully booked out and they were excited to get three cancellations because they had a waiting list of 15 people already waiting to take those rooms,” he said.
“There are a lot of businesses which are benefiting.
“It’s not just Surfers Paradise which benefits from because it brings people from interstate and overseas.
“That’s what putting on a great calendar of events is all about – it brings so many people to our beautiful city.”
Tickets were sold to visitors travelling from around the world, including the US, UK, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
The thousands upon thousands of locals and travellers alike headed to Surfers Paradise as a cache of aircraft were put on display at the 2024 Pacific Airshow Gold Coast.
Ceri Hohner said it was her daughter Zoe’s first time at an Airshow.
“I think my favourite part so far was when we were right under the skydiver when he came down with the flag.
“That was when the headphones came on … [Zoe’s] dad is an absolute fan of [the Airshow] so we had to introduce her to it early,” she said.
JT Edwards embraced the Airshow day spirit, dressing in a Top Gun themed flight jumpsuit.
“The F-18s and the F-35s are my favourite … they’re just loud and fast and the formation flying is also really cool.
“The super jets go so quickly and the loops and stuff are awesome too … I’d love to see the Airshow come back again next year it’s pretty cool,” he said.
Astrid Ehrnholm said she had to come back after last year’s show.
“It’s such a good day for families … I love the big helicopter that sounds really scary
[The Osprey] when it’s coming over.
“I’d love to see the Airshow keep coming back,” she said.
Father of Eliza and Harriet, Paul Lonard said last year they watched from outside the ticketed area and were very glad they bought tickets this year.
“The military stuff [is my favourite], I just like to see the jets and the sound, seeing them fly over is amazing.
“I like the F18s … I remember when they had the F1-11s back in the day and they used to go straight across the top of the buildings.
“It’s a really good day out,” he said.
Matthew Dodds was making the most of the day, taking photos of the aircraft overhead with his camera.
“It’s a pretty good show, much bigger than any other Airshow I’ve been to … I got a few good photos too.
“My favourite aircraft is probably the V-22 [Osprey], they’re just very different to all the other ones here,” he said.
‘Ten times busier’ Businesses buckle down during Airshow
Surfers Paradise businesses received the jet-fuelled boost they were hoping for during the Pacific Airshow weekend.
With monster crowds cramming into the tourist precinct for the three days of the event, food outlets and retailers were noticeably busy for that period.
Owner of ESPL Coffee Bianca Holgate said they were close to breaking their record sales on Saturday and thought they’d surpass it on the Sunday.
“It’s been absolutely electric, we’ve just had this steady flow of customers over the last couple of days.
“Yesterday we almost hit our record [sum of sales] in history but I think today we will smash that,” Ms Holgate said on Sunday morning.
“Caffeine, community and aviation; you can’t think of anything better.
“We rely on these iconic community events to bring locals and visitors to our business.”
Jordan Weir from the Fishbowl Surfers Paradise venue said the Cavill Avenue site had done ten times a normal weekend day’s trade due to the Airshow – and had one of their busiest days since opening one year ago.
Mr Weir said Fishbowl was also celebrating its first birthday with discount $10 bowls, having opened 12 months ago on the same weekend as the first Airshow.
“(Saturday) was also three times busier than last year – more people knew about it. I feel like second year of the Airshow, second year of Fishbowl Surfers Paradise, we’ve done really well. Amazing day – from open to close.
“Today is one of the biggest trades we have done so far. I’m sure every business in the area is doing larger trade than normal right now. It’s a great event.”
Asked how much busier it had been compared to a normal weekend day, he said: “Huge, ten times more.”
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