Attendance Down Estimated 10 Percent

There was more news at this year's AirVenture celebration than any time in recent memory... but, alas, there were fewer people. That's the word from the EAA, which on Tuesday released attendance figures for the weeklong aviation event.

According to the EAA, total attendance is estimated at 625,000 -- an approximate decrease of 10 percent over 2005. That could be due to a variety of factors, said EAA President Tom Poberezny.

"We had anticipated an attendance decrease after the unique attractions that highlighted the 2005 event. Attendance was also affected by factors such as the difficulties caused by unfavorable weather compared to last year, and the past year's sharp increase in fuel prices -- with auto fuel prices above three dollars a gallon, and aviation fuel prices topping four dollars per gallon in many regions."

In all, greater than 10,000 airplanes flocked to Wittman Regional Airport and other airports in east-central Wisconsin for AirVenture, with a preliminary figure of 2,310 showplanes onsite -- including 852 homebuilts, 798 Vintage airplanes, 387 warbirds, 130 ultralights, 121 seaplanes and 22 rotorcraft.

"EAA AirVenture 2006 was a tremendous event -- innovation and technology are an important part of our event, and 2006 featured more new aviation announcements than any EAA fly-in in history," said Poberezny. "In addition, there were many more activities and events that added value for EAA members and aviation enthusiasts.  Comments from visitors are overwhelmingly positive about the aircraft, events and organization of EAA AirVenture, which is a credit to the volunteers, staff and community who work hard to make it successful."

According to the EAA, 1,704 international visitors from 65 nations registered at the International Visitor's Tent, with Canada, Australia and South Africa representing the top three countries. As not all foreign visitors registered, however, the EAA is quick to point out the true number of international visitors was undoubtably larger.

There were 812 commercial exhibitors at Wittman Field, as well as 868 media representatives... from six continents (now we know why Jim is talking of opening an ANN Antarctic branch -- Ed.)

"We're already looking forward to EAA AirVenture 2007 on July 23 through 29 next year," the EAA president added.

So are we!

(Editor's Note -- As usual, ANN disagrees somewhat with the EAA's published attendance figures... but not in the way you might think. If anything, we believe we saw MORE people on the field this year than in years past... even taking into account last year's crowdpleasers such as the arrivals of SpaceShipOne and the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.

(Granted, they have the numbers and we don't... but could it be that the EAA, ever aware of the flack other shows have received by OVER-inflating their figures, is being perhaps a bit cautious with their numbers this time around?)

FMI: www.airventure.org