The Australian International Air Show, Avalon, Australia

The event brief

After a 4-year Covid hiatus the Australian International Air Show returned to the skies in March 2023. Being just a bit of a plane geek; I jumped at the chance to attend this event. The Air Show is a 6-day global business, defence and public exhibition that attracts, civil aviation, aerospace, military and government decision-makers from around the world (1). The final 3 days of the event are open to the general public. It’s when all the flying displays take off and that’s the bit I really enjoy.

The Australian International Air Show is a bi-annual event held at Avalon Airport. The airport is situated 55km west of Melbourne city. As a youngster I lived in Heywood, it was a nice tiny town but without an airport. I actually remember driving to Melbourne and being mesmerised by the Qantas 747s take off and land at Avalon airport as they trained their flight crew. However; the day is more than just the planes, I’m keen to check out the event and see how such a big operation comes together. The airport is an ideal venue to hold an Air Show. It comes with all the infrastructure for aircraft handling, refuelling and emergency response services. There is also enough open space around the airfield to manage the logistics of up to 80000 visitors each day. There is flexibility to allow for car parking, service vehicles, catering vans, public transport, marquees, exhibitor stands, aircraft static displays, visitor amenities, as well as fencing and barricades to help marshal crowds in the right direction! Event organisers had to consider multiple factors to make this event a success and the logistics were enormous and extended beyond the boundaries of the airport. 

Event operations

Arrival logistics

There were two main entrance gates, north and south. I entered through the north entrance gate that supported the public transport arrivals. The entrance was a large open marquee. Fencing guided visitors through to one of 5 entrance lanes where they were greeted by event staff who scanned the ticket master QR code and then moved to security for bag checks.

The entrance catered for mass arrivals and departures and the crowd flow could be reversed one lane at a time as demand picked up. As the day came to a close the entrance lanes reversed to cater for the departing crowds.

Navigating around

Anything that involves aircraft is normally on a large scale and this event was no exception. The event site was divided in to different coloured coded zones. Once inside the event visitors could view the site plan to orientate themselves. Event organisers also had these maps located around the site along with “you are here” tags to help orientate visitors. Visitors could also access the Air Show app and use the interactive map to find their way around. While these maps were helpful, the scale was quite deceiving. While walking from one zone to the other I felt I was almost there only to find I was only half way through a zone.

Exhibition space

For the exhibition halls, Air Show organisers arranged long and rectangular marquees. Inside; the halls were laid out in a conventional format as you would expect in an exhibition centre. The space enabled 4 lines of event space and exhibitor stands, and 3 corridors for visitors to traverse. The halls were carpeted, air conditioned and professionally presented. All exhibitor stands appeared purpose built and designed to promote their product. 

Crowd control

Logistically Air Show organisers managed massive crowds throughout the six-day event. It was reported that during the initial three industry days that show numbers topped 48,000 per day.  However, on Saturday and Sunday the Show was sold out with visitor numbers hitting 80,000.

Viewing contingency

The site is quite vast which means long walking times between displays and there very little access along the runway to view  aircraft movements. Private marquees and the gold pass grandstand face directly to the runway. So with limited vantage points event organisers provided a screen that was located centrally on the site that televised the in-air action as it happened.

Vip and viewing zones

Water in water out!

All event organisers must consider the catering and there were many food outlet vendors placed around the air show site to do just that. From coffee and jam doughnuts, to chips and burgers, there was enough variety to meet all tastes. There were singular stand-alone food vans in strategic places such as adjacent to merchandise stalls. They were also placed food zones where many food outlets serviced the crowd together.

 You may also have heard of the saying “water in water out”, so to deal with this; toilets were situated in various locations around the show, as well as concentrated services in the vicinity of food zones. It eye-watering when you think about the needs of 80,000 visitors.

Other on site services

Technology and Sustainability

Technology and sustainability go hand in hand as new advances in technology make sustainability initiatives more viable. Air Show organisers used technology to reduce their reliance on plastics and paper. 

Off site logistics

Workplace health and safety

Loud noise from aircraft is a significant WHS factor for event organisers. While visitors need to consider the level of noise tolerance for themselves; the merchandise stands offered ear muffs for sale on a first in basis. Information booths around the site were handing out free foam ear plugs. Heat stroke and dehydration would have been on the minds of WHS officials with high temperatures prevalent over the week.

Stephen's Take

Unit of Competency Mapping

Article and photos original by Stephen Duncan