EAA Provides Facts And Figures For A Record-Setting Year

If you were there, you knew it... massive traffic, LOTS of airplanes, VERY cool toys at every turn, and people everywhere... in other words, record territory for an AirVenture event.

And yes, EAA says it was A RECORD. EAA CEO and Chairman Jack Pelton bragged (and remember its not exactly bragging when its true...), “We introduced a tagline of ‘Unlike Anything Else’ for this year’s AirVenture event and 2022’s fly-in proved to truly be unlike anything else. We had seven days of nearly perfect weather, along with this year’s programs and activities, which brought out people and airplanes in numbers that we haven’t seen before.”

Total attendance? Approximately 650,000 – A record total (previous mark: 642,000 in 2019) and 7 percent above 2021’s attendance of 608,000, and Pelton notes that, “There were several factors involved in the record attendance this year, in addition to the great weather. Programs such as the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force contributed to exciting aerial displays all week, and it was a joy to welcome our international visitors back in full force for the first time since 2019.”

There were more than 10,000 aircraft arrived at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and other airports in east-central Wisconsin. At Wittman alone, there were 18,684 aircraft operations in the 11-day period from July 21-31, which is an average of approximately 121 takeoffs/landings per hour when the airport is open.

The roster also includes a total number of showplanes at 3,226, including 1,375 registered in vintage aircraft parking, plus 1,156 homebuilt aircraft (up 6 percent over 2021), 369 warbirds (up 5 percent from ’21), 137 ultralights, 87 seaplanes, 77 aerobatic aircraft, and 25 rotorcraft.

And the hits just kept on coming with more than 12,000 sites in aircraft and drive-in camping accounting for an estimated 40,000 visitors, while more than 5,000 volunteers contributed in excess of 250,000 hours. There were 803 commercial exhibitors, and more than 1400 Forums, Workshops, and Presentations were hosted throughout the week. Further; International visitors returned in a big way in 2022, with attendees from 92 countries outside the U.S., just one behind the record total from 2019.

There were some 797 media representatives on-site, from six continents.

FMI: www.eaa.org/airventure