Kirkcaldy Airshow: Fife could benefit after Ayr event cancelled

The airshow planned for Ayr later this year has been cancelled after a disagreement between organisers and South Ayrshire Council, and comes after Kirkcaldy had previously been scoped out as a possible location.

Plans were revealed in the Press last year that organisers wanted to bring the 2020 event to the waterfront, with an array of planes taking to the skies above the Forth.

You may also be interested in:

Parking changes outside Rejects in Kirkcaldy

Coronavirus could cancel Kirkcaldy’s Links Market

Drug user robbed three homes and stole charity tin

However, it was thought to be too short notice to organise an eve large-scale event, and eyes were turned instead towards 2021.

South Ayrshire Council had previously given the event £250,000 towards the event, which is estimated to generate £5m for the local economy.

However, bosses at the Scottish International Airshow recently pulled the plug on the Ayr event planned for later this year after a row over funding.

Scottish International Airshow Director Doug McLean said that while the door was open for Ayr next year, Fife is also still on the cards to take the slot.

He said: “We’ve offered discussions with South Ayrshire Council for future years, and we’ve offered the same to Fife.

“We’d be happy to meet with Fife Council to sort out some details with them on how we’d run the airshow.

“I’ve spoken to people at Stagecoach who’d be delighted to put on extra buses, and we’ve always worked with ScotRail in other places.

“Kirkcaldy is a good site, there’s no doubt about it.

“Now it’s just a case of trying to sit down with Fife and discussing the nuts and bolts of how we put it all together.”

Fife Council says it has asked the Scottish International Airshow for a breakdown of all costs involved before any decision is made.

Gordon Mole, Head of Business and Employability said: “The council has been approached by the organisers of the Scottish International Airshow to ask Fife to support the event financially.

“We’ve asked for a business case which breaks down the costs of the event to understand how the money would be spent and the anticipated benefits.”