Abbotsford International Airshow

Abbotsford International Airshow
The Canadian Snowbirds on the "Hotline" at the Abbotsford Airshow 2000
Genre	Air show
Dates	August
Venue	Abbotsford International Airport
Location(s)	Abbotsford, British Columbia
Country	Canada
Established	1962
Attendance	~125,000 each day (~300,000 3 days)
Organized by	Abbotsford International Airshow Society

The Abbotsford International Airshow is held annually on the second Friday, Saturday and Sunday in August at Abbotsford International Airport in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.

It is Canada's largest airshow. In the mid-1970s, Abbotsford was designated as Canada's National Airshow by Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau. It features both military and civilian aircraft from Canada and the United States, and on occasion military aircraft from other countries such as Britain, Germany (2000), and Russia.

The average annual attendance of 125,000+ people makes it the largest air show on the West Coast of North America.

The airshow was started in 1962 by the Abbotsford Flying Club.

The show experienced continuous growth through the 1960s and 70s.

The 1986 show was conducted in conjunction with Expo 86, the Vancouver world's fair. This saw the inclusion of several European teams like the Patrouille de France and the Frecce Tricolori to the traditional participants...as well as the Soviet-Ukrainian Antonov AN-124.

In 1989, the show set a three-day attendance record of 321,000 people. The USSR was represented by a large number of aircraft at Abbotsford. Making their North American debuts were two MiG-29 Fulcrums (a single and two-seater), an Su-26M aerobatic plane, a Ka-32 helicopter and the An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest aircraft. The MiG-29 demonstration pilot at Abbotsford was Anatoly Kvochur, who had ejected out of a Mig-29 at Le Bourget, France just months earlier. History was made at Abbotsford on the last day of the show when Major Bob Wade, Canadian Armed Forces CF-18 Hornet pilot, became the first western pilot to fly a modern fighter jet from the USSR. Major Bob Wade took the controls of the Mig-29UB two-seat aircraft with Soviet test pilot Valery Menitsky. Other highlights at the show included the first appearance at Abbotsford for the only airworthy Lancaster bomber in North America and the return of the USAF Thunderbirds for the first time since 1981.