27-28 June 2026 · Headcorn Aerodrome, Kent
A new chapter in UK airshows: Headcorn International Airshow 2026 unveils 30-aircraft lineup
Three flying P-51 Mustangs, a P-47 Thunderbolt, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the F-86 Sabre and 25 other aircraft confirmed for the new Headcorn International Airshow, with the Mayor of Maidstone and four foreign embassies among those confirmed in attendance. Produced by the team behind Sunderland Airshow, the War & Peace Show and BBC Radio 2’s CarFest, with Flying Display Director Group Captain Alan Lockwood AFC (CFCC, IWM Duxford).
HEADCORN, KENT: The team behind some of Britain’s most well-known display events has unveiled the lineup for the Headcorn International Airshow 2026, a new two-day show on 27-28 June at Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent.
Thirty aircraft from eighteen operators across the UK and Europe have been confirmed, including three flying P-51 Mustangs, a P-47 Thunderbolt, the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, fielding both Spitfire and Hurricane, an F-86 Sabre, three Spitfires, the Catalina, the Fairey Swordfish, the de Havilland Vampire and NEBO Air’s Electric Arrows, the world’s first all-electric display team.
“This is the show we’ve wanted to put on for years,” said Christopher Yates, Event Director and a director of AMP Productions, the company producing the show. “We’ve been involved in airshow direction across the UK for four decades. Sunderland, the War & Peace Show, Folkestone, Capel le Ferne, Manston, Bexhill, Leeds Castle, CarFest. What we’ve always wanted is the freedom to programme a show with no compromises. Three Mustangs and a Thunderbolt in one weekend, on grass runways, with the world’s first electric display team flying alongside the warbirds. That’s Headcorn International.”
A NEW CHAPTER FOR UK AIRSHOWS
UK display aviation has been in transition. Several long-established shows have ended in recent years; others have scaled back. Against that backdrop, Headcorn International Airshow has been built from the ground up to be ambitious in scale, broad in programming, and rooted in an airfield with deep aviation history.
The 2026 lineup deliberately spans three eras of British aviation in a single weekend: the propeller, the jet, and the electric.
- The propeller era: three Mustangs, a Thunderbolt, three Spitfires, two Hurricanes, the Hispano Buchón, the Catalina, the Swordfish, the Harvards, two Fokkers and the BBMF.
- The jet era: the F-86 Sabre and the de Havilland Vampire, representing the post-war shift to swept-wing and centrifugal jet design.
- The electric era: NEBO Air’s Electric Arrows, the world’s first all-electric display team, performing alongside Merlin and radial-engined warbirds.
“Aviation has always been about pushing forwards,” Yates added. “The pilots flying in the 1940s were operating front-line technology. The aircraft we’re honouring this summer were modern then. We wanted to show what modern means now: electric flight, sustainable display aviation, the engineers and pilots making it happen, not as a footnote but as a deliberate part of the programme.”
THE HEADLINE LINEUP
Among the 30 aircraft and display teams confirmed:
- Three flying P-51 Mustangs: ‘Marinell’ (D-Day veteran with four confirmed kills over occupied Europe), ‘Moonbeam McSwine’ (markings of triple ace Capt. William T. Whisner) and ‘Jersey Jerk’ (markings of Donald Strait, top ace of the 356th Fighter Group).
- A P-47D Thunderbolt, one of very few flying examples in Europe, operated by Ultimate Warbird Flights.
- Both aircraft of the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight: the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc.
- Spitfire N3200, a genuine Battle of Britain veteran from the Aircraft Restoration Company at Duxford.
- Navy Wings’ Seafire SX336 and iconic Fairey Swordfish W5856.
- Mistral Warbirds’ F-86 Sabre, flown in from Avignon.
- The Royal Norwegian Air Force Historical Squadron’s de Havilland Vampire FB.52, flown in from Rygge.
- The Cobra Demo Team’s Bell AH-1S Cobra, flown in from Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic. One of very few flying AH-1 Cobras in European display aviation, a Vietnam-era gunship sharing the flightline with WWII warbirds.
- Plane Sailing’s Catalina PBY-5A and the UK’s only flying Fokker D.VII, displayed alongside its Fokker Dr.I Triplane stablemate from Jasta Binks Aviation.
- The Starlings Aerobatic Team in their Extra 300NGs, The Flying Comrades in formation Yaks, and The Last Dogfight: a Slepcev Storch and Piper Grasshopper reenactment of the closing days of WWII.
- NEBO Air’s pair of Pipistrel Velis Electros: the Electric Arrows, the world’s first all-electric display team.
CIVIC AND DIPLOMATIC ATTENDANCE
The 2026 show has confirmed civic and diplomatic attendance reflecting both its local roots and its international programme. The Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Martin Round, who is also the ward councillor for Headcorn, will attend in his civic capacity. Four foreign embassies have confirmed attendance, reflecting the international nature of the participating aircraft and operators (Norwegian, French, Czech, and the lineup’s broader transatlantic heritage).
ROOTED IN HISTORY: RAF LASHENDEN
Headcorn Aerodrome operated as RAF Lashenden Advanced Landing Ground in 1944, hosting USAAF P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt units in support of the Normandy invasion. The runways were grass. The hangars were tents. Eighty-two years on, those same aircraft types return to the same field, a context that gives the 2026 lineup particular weight for an audience that cares about provenance.
WHY 2026 STANDS OUT
- Three flying P-51 Mustangs and a P-47 Thunderbolt confirmed in one weekend
- Aircraft types operating from the field they flew from in 1944
- The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, fielding both Spitfire and Hurricane
- 30 aircraft from 18 operators across the UK, France, the Czech Republic and Norway
- The world’s first electric display team flying alongside wartime warbirds
- Full ground show: classic cars, vendors, family activities across both days
- Grass runways: the same operating surface used in 1944, an increasingly rare display environment in UK aviation
KEY FACTS
| Event | Headcorn International Airshow 2026 |
| Dates | Saturday 27 to Sunday 28 June 2026 |
| Venue | Headcorn Aerodrome, Kent (formerly RAF Lashenden Advanced Landing Ground, 1944) |
| Capacity | 10,000 spectators per day |
| Aircraft confirmed | 30 aircraft from 18+ operators across the UK and Europe |
| Producer | AMP Productions Limited |
| Tickets | From £30 (children under 5 free with paying adult). VIP hospitality available. No tickets sold on the gate. |
| Website | headcornairshow.com |
CLICK FOR CONFIRMED LINEUP
