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gutted that the show is not going a head on saturday,finger crossed that sunday is a go.x

Feeling a bit down as my saturday ticket is of no good to me now. Should be valid both days

I have very mixed views about the weather cancellation. Whilst relieved to have avoided a wasted journey I will be very annoyed if the Sunday event goes ahead and I can't use a Saturday ticket. I hope web speculation that the car parks could have been usable on the weekend if not used by those attending the RAF event on Friday are unfounded. Fortunately Farnborough will distract me quickly enough and the sun my come out on Monday!

Absolutley DEVASTATED.................................................................................DEVASTATED.

it is with great regret that i am writing to you! i have been coming to the RIAT for 20 years now and i was disgusted at how useless the police officers were on friday! when we arrived at the airbase there were police everywhere but where were they when the Queens flypast was taking palce?? i visited the airbase last autumn as i just wondered if there was anything coming in, i was parked for less than ten minutes on the perimeter pathway before a police car rolled up! they fully checked my car, asked to see my driving lisence and my 67 year old fathers lisence before moving us on! but on friday there were at least 30 cars parked for over 30 minutes on the same pathway so during the Queens flypast, so much for security!! also where were thay when it was raining and we were all struggling to get out of the carparks? i saw one yes ONE policeman and three teenagers with tabards on! well i salute the youngsters efforts but as for the police force it seems to me they dont like to get wet... all the best for next year and may the show go on!!

So sorry to see that you have had to pull the air tattoo due to our great british weather. I am sure i am amongst thousands of fans that would like to say a great thanks to all the guys responsible for trying to bring us yet another great day out and show what a fantastic job the pilots, groundforce and guys behind the scenes can do. Good luck for next year

I am appalled as i am sure thousands of others will be, to hear that RIAT has been cancelled due to something so trivial as the weather. A major dissapointment to all who have already flown in. Lets hope our glorious armed forces will not have to stay grounded every time it rains! Surely an event so large would have been planned with allowances for rain? Totally disgusted!

Whilst understanding the reason given for cancellation, and accepting that the organisers were cogniscant of the disappointment experienced by those such as myself who wished to attend. Many such people travelled very long distances and incurred very substantial (wasted) exenditure over an above the ticket cost. II assume that IAF had insurance cover for such an eventuality so I feeel that it would be a good token of customer care if such peolem were given a significant discount off next year's tickets at the time of refund of this years tickets.

I think that it's interesting that you were able to stage an event for the Queen but not for us commonfolk (despite being subject to the same 72 hours downpour). I for one am almost £300 out of pocket (paid hotel accommodation that will not get refunded), because of the organisers woeful wet weather contingency plan. Mark from Leeds

Photos on at the UK Airshow Review give us no doubt that cancellation was the right decision. However, by the looks of the photos from friday afternoon, the announcement should have been made WAY before; preventing those travelling the day before from wasting their time. This may not have been possible, I don't know. What I do know is that Wings FM was still advertising the show and gave no indication of cancellation; we found out at our Travelodge. Not Happy.

I appreciate the reasons fro cancellation but had great expense having booked the weekend arriving Friday with a ticket for either day. As both were cancelled we heard that park and view was possible for Monday. The signs were nowhere to be found. Having eventually found a car park ( very dry) we attempted to try to watch the take off of some planes. At the gate we were told this was £20 per person!!.A total of £80 pound for the four of us. We walked to the runway fence and watched through the fence with many others for nothing. After such a bad and expensive weekend for nothing you would have thought those with tickets would have been allowed in for free just to stand at the runway and watch a few planes tkae off.

iwas there friday and it was the worst weather i have ever seen but answer this why was there talk on thursaday night of calling it off why did v i ps use the car parks not park on the u s runway that was not in use why was buses taking people around on saturday showing the planes to vips why did the fire service know at lunchtime on sat that it was all off want more ok the police were the most unhelpful people i have ever met the ones on bikes really did not want to be there i add latter

We Travelled from the West of Ireland to Fairford and we were in the area on Friday. There was absolutely NO indication that the show would be cancelled from any Media Source and We were Maddened to hear that it was cancelled as we listened to BBC Oxford at 7am on Saturday Morning. We Could not even get to withing 2 miles of the field. Greatly Disappointed and over £1000 out of pocket from flights, hotel, carhire...At Least the Museum in Kemble made a few bob. They actually had to pop up the road for change due to the amount of people who turned up at the gate.

Hey! I'm a volunteer at RIAT and share everyone's disappointment at the show's cancellation. However, I applaud the RIAT management team's bold decision to call off the world's premier air tattoo on sound avice from specialists and their own good common sense. Indeed, had the show gone ahead enthusiasts would have been extremely angry at being asked to park in the middle of a muddy lake which had more similiarities with Glastonbury than a carpark. Cars may have got onto the fields but no-way would they have got off and can you image trying to tow 10,000+ plus cars off a sea of mud ! Sure with 20:20 hindsight plans could have been made to park on the Swindon Town FC carpark or the empty Honda carparks in Swindon - but how quickly could you muster enough coaches to transport 100,000 people the 10 miles to the show.|

Can I just point out that I would rather the police concentrate on crime than herding you lot out of a car park - considering the numbers, surely you could make your way out of the car park?? Police resources are better used elsewhere, yes there are security measures to be implemented BUT the organisers are not going to tell you what they are....are they? Just because you don't physically see anyone, doesn't mean that they are not watching the area. Better that than trying to get you out of the car park!

Having seen the state of the show ground and the car parks, it was right to take the decision to cancel the Air Show on the grounds of safety. The people I met in the Bus Station on Saturday were all very understanding, even the guy who flown in from Toronto just for the Saturday. I am sure that we all understandthe disappointment and the obvious frustration of those who had spent a lot of money to be there but I usually find that those who complain the most would be the first to want to sue somebody in the evnt of something going wrong. People must realise that RAF Benevolent Fund would be the greatest loser and so this would not be a decision that was taken lightly. I have to say that I did not envy those who had to make the decision. Although there were may thousands who were disappointed, please spare a thought for all of those who worked so hard to try to make the show possible and who's efforts go unnoticed by the public year after year.

I find it most distressing that the organizers of the airshow did not have the sense to look at the possibilities of water logged fields and have a plan of action, instesd it seems you waited to late to start with futile attempts to rectify fileds of mud made worse by allowing vehicles all week on them! There are many things you could of done...first off seeing as the event is held every year, why not use some of the considerable profits you make to invest in PROPER PARKING facilities and grass mat roads etc... If you did this at least the show could of continued even if people had to wear wellies! AS FOR CANT GARANTEE SAFETY outrtickets tell us that anyway...ie airshows carry a risk of death! albiet small. I feel sorry for everyone involved including the organisers, but angry and frustrated a sensible semi permanent parking system with paved roads etc isnt in place at fairford by now.... I purchased my ticket at Barclays bank late fri 11th july...why didnt yo usend emails to the ticket outlets to stop anymore sales of tickets whenyou obviously KNEW then it was going to be cancelled....and now i have to wait at LEAST 8 wks for a refund... I will support the show next year and dont wish any personal anger towards any one individual....but PLEASE PLEASE ..THINK AHEAD next time...the uk is having wetter summers.....dont let this happen again......

hey i am also a voulnteer for riat in the park and view . we were all praying that we could open on sat and sunday we was all shocked as much as you that the show was pulled. we all worked as a team to try and stop the weather from runining the show even for the arrivals and depts on monday. i can tell you that everyone from team riat 08 pulled together to try and resolve some of the car parks and unfortuantly we couldt beat the rain . we even had to pray fro monday but due to the good weather over the weekend we could open park and view east and west with a lot of work from everyone. this is my first year as a volunteer and i wanted to see from the otherside of the fence i have been attending riat for over 16 years and i tell you the work goes on behind the scenes is amazing dont forget they are arranging riat 09 now. i am proud to be a voulenter and will carryone with team riat and put on one of the graetest shows on earth

We were amongst the thousands who made arrangements for a weekend away to attend RIAT, were disappointed and had transport from Sheffield, 3 nights accommodation and tickets for both days (OK, I know we'll get a refund) to shell out for. However, I agree with Kevan's comment (above). STOP BEING SELFISH AND LOOK AT THE WIDER PICTURE!!! Stop thinking about yourselves and spare a thought or two for a) all those people who put a massive amount of time and effort arranging the show, only for it all to be wasted, b) the RAF Benevolent Fund, who have lost out on a huge amount of money to support the excellent work they do, and also c) organisations like Vulcan to the Sky Club, who are desperately needing all the publicity they can get to attract sponsorship to keep the amazing XH558 flying. Anyway, we ended up with a nice weekend in the Cotswolds...

On the way to RAF Fairford I picked up 2 of my old sevices pals wko had flown in from New Zealand for the show.The main reason being to see our old A/C flying again. The Delta Lady (Vulcan) we were all dissapointed at what we saw on the sign as we came up to Junction 15 on the M4, and after seeing the the ground we understood why the decision had been taken.Better luck next year but we will see the lady at Farnborough.Hopefully we and the old Lady will still be around next year.

we arrived on the Thursday and camped at Fairford FC. The field was fine but entrances were muddy and the FC put ballast down. Why couldn't RIAT do the same? Not once on Friday or Saturday did we see anyone working on the car parks trying to get them ready. Also the rain was expected so why werent they better prepared? I agree with previous comments - lets have some compensation for wasted costs - not just the tickets. I find it embarrassing for the forces that it was called off. Nellis AFB bus all the public in for the airshow from a nearby car park so why couldn't Fairford have done the same?. Hope the VIPs enjoyed Friday - most of the ones we saw in their cars (messing up the car parks) looked like they couldn't care less about planes. It was a good job everyone was so good natured about the cancellation. We got up 5 am Sunday and went off to Duxford - as they said - Fairford's loss is Duxford's gain. Hope the traders that went to Fairford instead of Duxford get some good compensation

I agree totally with the above comment from Kevan. Just think of the £millions that the charity have lost - just hope they are all OK for next year! I think, although many people think it is a stupid idea, the Sat or Sun only tickets are a good thing. Just think of how many people would have attempted to go on the Sunday if it went ahead!! It is not just the car parks that were drenched either - think about the grass areas on the site! I can imagine many people slipping etc and then wanting compesation etc. The above aside, I hope lessons have been learned! With the climate change which is going on, this may happen more often. I hope for next year that the planners for the show make sure there is a provision for proper flooring for cars to park and the grass areas on site.

I can't understand why cancellation was not advertised on national media. RIAT is a major event in the national calender with people traveling from all over the country and globe. We only heard when we tuned into local radio after listening to Radio 2 & 4 for most of the three hour journey up to Fairford. Please lets have proper contingency planning .

I can understand the need to cancel as parking that many cars in a muddle field was going to be a problem. My main grumble is over the tickets. Never in the 37 years of IAT have there been day specific tickets and when I found out that the saturday show was cancelled I was amazed to see that the tickets would not be valid on sunday. So I queued up on saturday morning to get a ticket for sunday. Why couldnt we get a refund from where we got the tickets? I dont make much money and now I'm £65 out of pocket for at least 8 weeks. I feel sorry for the poor people who queued infront of me on saturday morning in swindon, as they had travelled for 4 hours to stay in a hotel, only for it all to be shelved. Amazingly when I tuned into Wings FM, there was no mention of the cancellation!! Just the DJ doing birthday requests! Now I do understand how hard it is on the organisers, I spent many a year helping out as an air cadet so I'm not intentionally moaning, just very dissapointed about it all.

I was on site for 9 days and had a great time, even with the weekend cancellation. I appreciated the obvious hard work done to prepare the FRIAT enclosure for our use on the Monday - with out the walkways and tree bark it would have been very muddy. I was in the Park and View East on the Friday, with my family on a day visit ( non-FRIAT members); so was unable to view yhe static aircraft. I am sure I speak for many members who did not get to view the static aircraft, IS IT POSSIBLE, PLEASE for the charity to provide a CD or DVD of ALL THE STATIC AIRCRAFT AND AS MANY MOVEMENTS AS POSSIBLE. I am sure this would sell and help in a small way to the lost revenues. I have already booked my seat for next year and hope a similar number of aircraft will want to come and display - we had a wonderful number here this year.

I to am dissapointed it RIAT was cancelled. However i'm sure the organisers did not take this decision lightly. But to all those bleating that they are out of pocket, don't be so selfish. The RAF Benevolent Fund has lost £1000's of pounds supporting those that have given great sacrifices so you have the freedom to moan!!!! Enough said

I read it was cancelled on teeltext on Saturday at 5am. I subsequently read an e-mail to me that was sent Friday at 10am, but did not read this until Staurday evening. Even though I knew it was off before travelling I came down in the hope that FRIAT members might get to walk round the static (a bit selfish maybe), but this was not to be. I also heard it on national radio all the way down from Notts until I tuned to wings fm nearer Fairford. So, I do no think the organisers could have done any more, other than cancel earlier on Friday during the day. Anyway, I don't blame anyone, BUT the organisers must consider that this could happen again, and must plan ahead for improved parking or provide huge Park and Ride system from hard standing car parks. Good luck and fingers crossed for next year.

Like a couple of posters, I could not believe that Wings FM played taped muzak, rather than repeat a taped message explaining what had happened. My first news came from the traffic warning sign on the M4. When I saw that, at 9.00 on Friday evening, I phoned my wife to check the website but she could find nothing. Now I see the decision was made at least a couple of hours earlier. I have great sympathy with everyone connected with the show and will support it in future but please can someone remember that radio is a good way of getting the message out and if you have the luxury of your own station, please use it.

riat has lost a lot of good will this year a few days befor the saturday you annouce no tickets can be brought on the saturday after the show was cancelled wings fmwas still advertising where tickets couldbe brought for the sunday the car parks where no better on saturday than friday when you cancelled as the show was all ticket on saturday how tickets did you sell for saturday and where was plan b incase of rain the fact you say you got extra stuff in on short notice shows a lack of plan b and we do live in good old GB where weather is interesting to say the least you will to put a very good show next to bring poeple back

I have noticed recently that some sort of offer open to FRIAT members has been posted to the site but details of it are only available in the FRIAT members area. I would like to know why this offer is not being made public, ie - everyone can see it. A large number of people who attend Fairford each year are not able to purchase such a package for numerous reasons. If some sort of offer or discount is being offered to FRIAT ticket holders, this should at the be extended to ALL pre-purchased tickets. This is the very least that RAFCTE can do after the disappointment caused by the lack of forward planning by the organisers.

To say that I was bitterly disappointed when I saw that the show was going to be cancelled on (initially) the Saturday was an understatement. The flying display was loking to be one of the best in years with a few first timers at RIAT and rare visitors, and my 13 year old foster kid was really looking forward to seeing the Vulcan fly. For it to be cancelled both days (as we were planning to attend both days Saturday in the public grandstand), was heartbreaking. Must say though if it wasn't for me checking this site about 11pm on the Friday night I would never have know that the show had been cancelled and would have got up at 3am on the Saturday morning as planned! Still at least we will get fully refunded, which is great as the £225 will pay for my car tax and MOT!

My family flew from Canada to be at this Airshow. As you can imagine we are all devistated by this cancellation. I feel sorry for you Brits, at least in Canada we get a summer. When we returned Friday it was sunny and 32c in Toronto.

I too am very disappointed with the full cancellation of this year's RIAT. Was really looking forward to seeing the F22, EDF, Turkish Stars, CF-18 etc but I just hope that the display items that were scheduled to be highlights for this year's RIAT can be persuaded to come along for next year's show...please. Judging by the pictures I saw, the showground looked like a seaside attraction and not an airbase so I do believe it was the most adequate conclusion in terms of Health and Safety. Here's to RIAT 2009! Make it a good one guys!

Will this years Programmes,T-shirts ,Aircraft checklists etc still be put on sale

not impressed ............ can anybody supply registrations of aircraft in the grounds on Sunday............ many thanks please please

I was so gutted that riat was cancelled this year. We travelled down on friday, spent the night at a travelodge, got up at 5am sharp on saturday morning, only to see the sign on the m4 reading "Fairford Air Show Cancelled" I was so dissapointed along with lots of other people. Tuned into BBC Radio Swindon which confirmed the cancellation. anyway bring on RIAT 09! hopefully it will be as good as this years was going to be.