Attendance Beats '08 By A Substantial Margin
EAA Monday released the final
attendance figures for AirVenture 2009 at Wittman Field in Oshkosh,
and organizers were very pleased with the results.
Total attendance was up 12% over 2008, according to an EAA news
release. 578,000 people came through the main gate or flew in
during the week of the show. “When times are tough, people
make choices. Those with a passion for aviation made their choice
this year … Oshkosh was the place they couldn’t miss
in 2009," said EAA president Tom Poberezny. "I've been chairman of
AirVenture since the mid-1970s and I have to say we’ve never
had a better lineup of airplanes, people and programs than we had
this year. I’m pleased EAA invested nearly $4 million in site
improvements over the past 11 months, allowing us to handle this
year’s increased attendance. We’ve received extensive
and positive feedback on those site improvements and
enhancements.”
And they came from everywhere. 2,182 international visitors
registered from 75 nations, with Canada, South Africa, and
Australia the top three nations. The EAA says that figure only
includes the folks who actually registered at the international
visitors tent, so the true international contingent may be
larger.
North 40 2009
More than 41,000 of those attendees camped out, either with
their airplanes in the North 40 or at the drive-in campground on
the airport grounds.
More than 10,000 airplanes flew into Wittman Field over the
course of the show. EAA says there were 2,652 showplanes, the
highest total since 2005. That figure includes 1,023 homebuilt
aircraft, 1,007 vintage airplanes, 355 warbirds, 116 ultralights,
99 seaplanes, 36 aerobatic aircraft and 16 rotorcraft.
But while the cleanup from AirVenture 2009 is still winding
down, Poberezny is already looking ahead to 2010. “This year
we highlighted emerging new aviation technology such as
electric-powered aircraft," he said. "We will continue the emphasis
on those innovations at Oshkosh in 2010. In addition, there are
several significant aviation anniversaries next year, such as the
75th anniversary of the DC-3, and further developments in Virgin
Galactic’s space tourism efforts.”
With these attendance figures, AirVenture 2009 tracks a trend
noticed at other airshows around the country this year. While not
all have been successful, overall attendance has seen a marked
increase. More people seem to be learning what most of us already
know: Airshows are just a heck of a lot of fun.
See you next year.