Council leader orders inquiry into Airbourne 2008

Despite better than forecast weather, spectacular air displays and entertaining arena attractions, Eastbourne Borough Council is in the process of counting the cost of a poorly attended Airbourne. Due to mounting costs to set up the show, and no response from any major potential sponsor, Eastbourne Borough Council had no choice but to levy a charge for the first time in 2008.

Council chiefs are set to conclude that both visitors and residents did not sufficiently value the show enough to pay to visit it. With high set up costs set to stay, serious questions will be raised about the structure of the event in the future.

Having never charged before, exact attendance figures prior to 2008 cannot be accurate. The attendance figure this year in the charged zone stood at 48,000. This is a blow for Eastbourne Borough Council and well short of predicted numbers. The current economic climate and the Beijing Olympics may well have also played a part in keeping visitors away.

Consultation with various businesses, organisations and residents prior to the decision to charge concluded that introducing a levy would be both acceptable and beneficial.

The Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, Councillor David Tutt has ordered a top to tail review of the charging policy and comments:

“Airbourne is an extremely important event for Eastbourne with wide media coverage. However, local council tax payers have sent us a clear message. They do not want to pay for Airbourne, either by increases in Council Tax or by charging.

We will be investigating what went right, what went wrong and looking very seriously at ways of ensuring the event for future years. Although nothing can be ruled out, Airbourne fans can be assured that this administration will do all that it can to ensure that there is an event for 2009, and provisional dates are 13-16 August. I would like to pass my sincere thanks on to the sponsors, the staff who worked on the event, the traders and all the paying spectators who supported the show.”

Airbourne enthusiasts can keep up to date by becoming a Friend of Airbourne online at visiteastbourne.com or eastbourneairshow.co.uk.