{"id":3345,"date":"2026-02-19T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/?p=3345"},"modified":"2026-02-19T12:03:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:03:50","slug":"first-aircraft-for-this-summers-royal-international-air-tattoo-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/aviation-news-uk\/uk-airshow-news\/first-aircraft-for-this-summers-royal-international-air-tattoo-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"First aircraft for this summer\u2019s Royal International Air Tattoo revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/article-images-26\/RIAT-Hornet.jpg\" alt=\"RIAT Finnish F18\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s less than six months until RAF Fairford is transformed into a world-famous aviation showcase, and event organisers have announced the first participating aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Finnish Air Force F-18 is the first aircraft to be confirmed for this year\u2019s flying display, where the show will be highlighting the aircraft used throughout the last century for air-to-air combat and modern fighter aircraft used across the globe under its \u2018Fighter Meet\u2019 theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, 2026 also marks 30 years since Royal status was granted to the event, and in recognition of this, the aviation showcase will have a sub-theme of Royal Flight, which will be marked with a gathering of aircraft for VIP transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Head of Air Operations, Peter Reoch said<\/strong>: \u201cWe are delighted to unveil the Finnish Hornet as our first participant for RIAT26 \u2013 this display is always well flown and is the perfect introduction to our Fighter Meet theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are very busy working with Air Arms from around the world to attract an exciting assortment of aircraft to the show and we\u2019re excited to start announcing these weekly as these are confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent years the event has seen huge demand for tickets, with tickets being sold at record speed for three consecutive years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, the event has already sold over 70,000 tickets and all proceeds are donated to its parent charity, the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust, which aims to inspire young people and RAF personnel to reach their full potential in STEM, air and space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Head of Charity Development, Hannah Langford said<\/strong>: \u201cEvery ticket purchased for the Royal International Air Tattoo plays a direct and powerful role in shaping young futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThanks to this support, we\u2019re able to fund inspiring STEM experiences and skills development that open doors for young people aged 5 to 25 \u2014 especially those who might never otherwise see themselves in air, space or technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cWhen people come to RIAT, they\u2019re not only enjoying an extraordinary aviation event; they\u2019re helping us spark curiosity, build essential skills, and create opportunities for the next generation.\u201d To buy tickets for this year\u2019s show, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.airtattoo.com.\" target=\"_blank\">www.airtattoo.com.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s less than six months until RAF Fairford is transformed into a world-famous aviation showcase, and event organisers have announced the first participating aircraft. A Finnish Air Force F-18 is the first aircraft to be confirmed for this year\u2019s flying display, where the show will be highlighting the aircraft used throughout the last century for &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/aviation-news-uk\/uk-airshow-news\/first-aircraft-for-this-summers-royal-international-air-tattoo-revealed\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">First aircraft for this summer\u2019s Royal International Air Tattoo revealed<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[364,58,10,179],"class_list":["post-3345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uk-airshow-news","tag-364","tag-february","tag-news","tag-royal-international-air-tattoo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3345"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3347,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3345\/revisions\/3347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.airscene.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}