THE Bournemouth Air Festival is set for a spectacular return after going virtual last year.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the popular event was hosted at Centre VR in the Richmond Gardens Shopping Centre last year.

But thousands of people are expected to flock to the town on September 2 for the four-day event.

The Red Arrows will light up the sky again, flying at 3pm every day.

RAF Typhoon is also set to bring the noise to Bournemouth and the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster will display the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

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Visitors will also be treated to seeing four iconic ‘Warbirds’, the Buchon, Spitfire, P-47D Thunderbolt and Mustang as part of the Ultimate Warbird Flights.

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Super Pitts Muscle Plane is back “by popular demand”, with Rich Goodwin putting on a daredevil display.

The Tigers Freefall Parachute Display team will be back for this year’s festival, as will the Blades Aerobatic Display Team.

At sea, a Sunseeker parade will float past on Saturday and a class of patrol and training vessel in service with the Royal Navy will be visible.

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Finally, on land, guests can find the Armed Forces Village and the Royal Air Force Village, with interactive demonstrations on offer.

There will also be funfairs and entertainment and 1.5 miles of food and drink traders.

And organisers of this year’s event have urged people to think about how they travel to the festival.

Jon Weaver, festival director said: “We can’t wait to welcome everyone back for this year’s Bournemouth Air Festival which has been running for 14 years. A tremendous amount of work has gone into ensuring this event will be one of the biggest and best yet.

“And we ask everyone attending to please – think before you travel. Do you need to take the car? If you are from out of town, please think about getting the train or the coach and travelling down to the festival. We have excellent bus routes and we know a lot of our residents already use the bus, walk or cycle to the festival.”

Cllr Beverley Dunlop, lead member for cultural events, said: “Only through more people choosing sustainable travel options will we be able to continue to enjoy exciting events and entertainment like this. We will welcome many people to Bournemouth over the four days of the festival and ask everyone to consider how they can plan their visit with the least impact to the environment.”