The Boundary Bay Airshow is coming back this summer with a few changes.
After a two-hiatus due to the pandemic, the show will once again be held at the Boundary Bay Airport on Saturday, July 16.
Council last week gave the go-ahead for Alpha Aviation to host the show.
The airshow had a “Better than Ever” theme in 2019, drawing a record-breaking crowd of 30,000 attendees.
A staff report notes the attendance was largely due to appearances by the Canadian Forces Snowbird Team and the Canadian F-18 Hornet Demonstration Team, as well as a number of other performers who attended the airshow for the first time.
The 2022 airshow has a “Welcome Back” theme with a line-up that includes the Northern Stars Aerobatic Team, Brad Wursten, Brent Handy, Vicky Benzing, Yellow Thunder and Mike Tryggvason.
There’s also going to be other activities including a Family Fun Zone, car show, aircraft exhibits, aircraft static displays, autograph tent, food vendors as well as a beer garden.
In a cost-sharing arrangement with Alpha, the city provided a $100,000 cash contribution for the 2019 show to help bring in the Canadian F-18 Hornet Demonstration Team.
This time around, the city will provide a $35,000 cash contribution, the same amount provided for the 2018 show.
The city will also provide in-house, in-kind support, while traffic management final costs are estimated to be in the range of $40,000.
Admission is free, however, parking will cost $10, which is the same as 2019.
“This is a nominal fee compared to other airshows. It would contribute to easing traffic concession around the airport area and encourages attendees to find alternative parking,” said Alpha Aviation president Melissa Sayers in a letter to council.
Getting a parking spot may be another matter, however.
The staff report notes ongoing development at the Boundary Bay Airport continues to shrink the total number of parking stalls available for the event each year and it is estimated that there will be approximately 2,500 parking stalls available for on-site parking in 2022, down almost 1,200 stalls from 2018.
Staff recommended that Delta and Alpha develop an airshow traffic management and parking plan to address the overall loss of parking and anticipated traffic for this year’s airshow.
The plan will likely need to identify off-site parking facilities and consider the need for a shuttle service to the Boundary Bay Airport, similar to 2019, but likely with only one satellite location instead of two.
The report also notes that in 2019, the process for scanning parking permits created significant backups along Ladner Trunk Road, 72 Street, 80 Street and the Highway 99 off-ramp, which ultimately led to traffic controllers ceasing to scan parking passes and some attendees with pre-purchased parking passes being unable to access a spot.
Staff are to work with Alpha to address lessons learned in 2019 and provide a sustainable model for future airshows.
“In light of staffing constraints and increasingly challenging logistics as airshow attendance grows, it may be beneficial to retain a professional management company (similar to the Abbotsford Airshow) to manage paid parking onsite, with Delta staff focusing on a free community shuttle (similar to the 2019 shuttles) to reduce congestion at the site,” the report adds.
