RIAT Air Ops wrote:Fair comments that I don't have an issue with but the facts are that apart from the OP's comments regarding the Greek Embraer, that's been it. No hints whatsoever from the operator so nothing that we could report to the enthusiasts. The 'news' re: the Poles is exactly the same; the initial correspondence received has been fed in via the website and since then we've had no news to report: same with the Italian assets at this time. I don't have a magic answer and we're just as anxious as you all are to ensure that we have a great show again this year.
Caper, yup, very difficult to balance.
Cheers, Tom
Does this not set the alarm bells ringing for anyone else? They're clearly having much difficulty this year, for one reason or another, and are unable to give us any further news. The real concern is - in the example of Poland, who confirmed in December 2012 - we've heard nothing since, and we were told to expect 'further news in March'. In similar fashion, news regarding participation from Morocco, Iraq and Canada seem to have gone quiet.
Many foreign air arms have been - or are in the process of - firming their participation for European shows. But none of what we've heard seems to have anything to do with RIAT, not even a whisper like we've had in previous years. In the case of Poland, rumours are they've already allocated assets for shows this year and RIAT wasn't on the list. So I'm somewhat confused as to what is exactly happening, given we were expecting to hear something by now.
If there's someone new at the communication helm, responsible for this - as someone else has already mentioned - then exactly what are they doing differently? It's not unreasonable to think that there's 'too much red tape' here, and not enough 'proper' communication. You only have to look at other large shows in Europe, and the UK (Waddington), to see that they're ahead of RIAT, at this stage.
Perhaps I wouldn't be so concerned, but the trip to RIAT is an expensive one. There's no denying that. And this year, with the increase of ticket prices, there's more emphasis and scrutiny on the flying programme. Yet, you don't seem to acknowledge this - hence why we're left to air our frustrations. Already you've announced very 'ordinary' acts; such as the Tutor, Lynx and Wingwalkers. How can you justify the ticket price increase on the back of that? You can't. In fact, the majority of what you announced over Easter can be seen elsewhere for a fraction of the price. So when are we actually going to see the programme begin to take place for the enthusiast and for the regular who is having to pay more, because right now I don't see it. There's very little for the enthusiast (outside of the NH90 and a few rare static items), and very little communication as to what is going on. If you want to prevent the storm brewing, I suggest you begin to be more transparent and give us some idea of which direction this years show is heading.
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