Pacific Airshow will be held at Surfers Paradise from 18 to 20 August 2023, with the event that attracts around 3 million people every year to California’s Huntington Beach locked into August at the Gold Coast for the next five years.

Event organiser and owner of Pacific Airshow Huntington Beach, Kevin Elliott, said he wanted to change the face of winter tourism forever at Australia’s favourite holiday destination.

The Gold Coast beaches were the obvious choice to take the airshow outside the US and launch the high-octane event to audiences on a global stage, he said.

“Very early on it was clear in my mind that we were doing something extremely special with this big brand of over-water airshow that appealed to this massive non-endemic audience to aviation,” Elliott said.

“These are folks that otherwise wouldn’t go to a hot runway or to a military base to watch an airshow, but they’d come to the beach by the millions.

“They don’t necessarily know the difference between an F35 or an F18, but they know it’s awesome and they want to come back tomorrow.”

The event will be coordinated between RAAF Airbase at Amberley and the Gold Coast Airport. It will feature military aircraft and performances from aerobatic troupes such as Air Force Thunderbirds, US Navy Blue Angels, and UK Royal Air Force Red Arrows, as well as performances by the world’s best civilian aviators.

Elliott said the airshow had the bonus impact of potentially enhancing bilateral relations through “soft diplomacy”.

The airshow is deliberately timed to be held around national and international military exercises in Australia including Exercise Pitch Black, the biennial warfare exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force based at Darwin, and Exercise Talisman Sabre, which is the largest Australian Defence Force training activity between Australia and the United States, based near Rockhampton.

“We wanted to replicate our flagship event at another iconic destination and that journey has led us to one of the most idyllic beaches in the world, the Gold Coast,” Elliott said.
“We are bringing allies together and cementing old and new partnerships through soft diplomacy.

“Pacific Airshow Gold Coast will be awe-inspiring, recognising the incredible talent and skills of civilian and military aviators, and that is sure to be a powerfully inspiring experience for everyone.”

As well as the world-class aerobatics and jets with adrenaline-pumping speed and thunderous power, Elliott said the airshow would feature the latest Urban Air Mobility technology.

While plans have already been unveiled for futuristic self-flying air taxis to zip passengers around south-east Queensland during the 2032 Olympics, the technology isn’t quite yet set for take off locally.

“This is the future of urban mobility and the idea that all of us are going to be flying around in these electric drone type taxis, so we are looking at making that a major feature at this event and showcasing some of the technology that’s available,” Elliott said.

“So that ranges from things as crazy as a jet pack or drone taxis and that type of really cool science fiction technology. We want to make this a place where that kind of technology can be showcased in a big way.”