NEARLY 600,000 people watched this year's Bournemouth Air Festival, according to figures released by BCP Council. 

Records were nearly broken at this year’s four-day event as just over 594,000 people came to Bournemouth to watch the show. 

Jon Weaver, Air Festival director, said: “The number of people enjoying the festival over the last few days may well have got close to breaking our record attendance figures.”  

Comparatively, 2021’s show saw 800,000 people flock to the coast which was the first one to be held after the Covid lockdowns. 

This year’s event was hindered somewhat on the first day, held on Thursday, August 31, as bad weather grounded all planes but the Red Arrows, who cut short their usual display midway through. 

However, the remaining three days “did not fail to disappoint the crowds” and was a “fantastic few days of entertainment”, accoridng to deputy council leader Millie Earl. 

Uncertainty remains over the future of the established event, with councillors needing to decide whether the council will continue to fund the show. 

No provisional date was announced on the final day of the Air Festival, with Cllr Earl saying “we’ll be analysing the data from this years’ festival and looking at some of the ideas we’ve received from business owners and festival goers over the last few days”.