PLANS to resurrect the much-loved Southend Airshow appear to be dead in the water just three months after they were announced.
In August, the Southend Airshow Group formed aiming to bring back the air show which has not been held since May 2012.
At the time, vice chair of the group claimed they need to fundraise £500,000 to put on the show as a free to attend event in 2024 – a Go FundMe page for the group has raised £30 of its £250,000 goal.
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It was claimed several businesses were behind the bid and would be unveiled in the weeks after the announcement at the end of August, but this never materialled.
The group behind the bid to bring has since gone quiet on social media, last posting on September 7 claiming Southend Airport had said it would be too busy to accommodate for the show.
At the time, Southend Airport claimed it was “fully supportive” of the proposals and insisted it was open to discussions.
A spokesman for the airport yesterday confirmed there had been no further communication but reiterated the airport “will support a plan should one be developed”.
“It’s a shame if the plans are dead, as we would all love to have the air show back, but the original reason we lost it was due to the costs associated with running it,” councillor Martin Terry said.
“This is the second attempt by a group outside the council to bring it back to find out it's not financially sustainable.
“The fact remains that this is not an easy thing to pull off and costs a lot of money.”
A spokesman for the Southend Airshow Group told the Echo in August the group planned on financing the show through selling merchandise, bidding for grants, business sponsorships and community fundraising.
The group failed to respond to multiple request for comment over whether it had axed the project.
Southend’s Airshow was last held in 2012, with 300,000 visitors flocking to the seafront to marvel at the Red Arrows, RAF Falcons, a Vulcan bomber, a British Airways Concorde, and a host of other amazing aircraft.
The show had run for a consecutive 27 years but was cancelled as the council made budget cutbacks.
In 2014, a failed bid to revive the show fell short of its targeted £220,000 fundraising goal.
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