October is your last chance to see the Red Arrows this year

The Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force display team, have soared over quite a few people this year.

Summer 2025 season kicked off for the display team with their VE Day anniversary flight over Buckingham Palace.

RAF jet pilots showed their skills as thousands of people lined the streets in London to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Then, Donald Trump, First Lady Melina, King Charles and Queen Camilla were among those craning their necks to see the aerobatics team during the US President’s state visit last week.

But you’ve now got two final chances to see the Red Arrows – though one would involve a last-minute plane ticket. Here’s where.

When is the last Red Arrows display for 2025?

The Red Arrow team have flown thousands of shows this year alone (Picture: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

The aerobatic display team have roared over most major air festivals in the UK and flown abroad to Greece, Denmark, Poland, Belgium, Malta and the Czech Republic.

Their hectic schedule means the Red Arrows will have flown at nearly 5,000 displays in 57 countries by the end of the year.

There are two shows left this season, but only one is realistic for people in the UK.

Tomorrow, the arrows will be performing for the second day of the Malta International Airshow, which organisers say will be an ‘unforgettable experience’.

If you can go, the air show is at Safi Aviation Park, a few minutes taxi drive from Malta International Airport.

But if you can’t afford the flights, the arrows will be lighting up the skies of Duxford, a village 10 miles south of Cambridge, on October 4.

The Red Arrows emit colourful vapour trails (Picture: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

You can book tickets for the Duxford Flying Finale Display here, though organisers haven’t confirmed the timings just yet.

While most of the shows took place over the summer, the Red Arrow Pilots won’t be putting their feet up from October.

Instead, they’ll start their winter training, which involves every pilot flying three sorties -military-talk for a deployment – a day.

What planes are the Red Arrows?

Red Arrows are Hawk T1 fast-jets, which can reach a maximum speed of 660mph, while they can exceed the speed of sound in a dive.

Where the Red Arrows fly, they emit special red, white and blue vapour known as the smoke.

While giving a stellar show to the audience, it is used by pilots to judge wind speed and direction and to find each other for formation after flying several miles apart.

They are, unsurprisingly, red (Picture: Anadolu)

Keeping the Red Arrows flying is known as the ‘Circus’ as each plane requires a team of technicians to keep it flying.

The team comprises 11 pilots, 100 engineers and support staff.

Anyone dreaming of becoming a Red Arrow pilot needs to have a minimum of 1,500 flying hours under their belt, have completed a frontline operational tour and be assessed above average as a pilot.

The pilot hopefuls are then put through a gruelling flying test and interviews.

Where are the Red Arrows based?

The home of the Red Arrows, aptly nicknamed ‘The Reds,’ have had a fair few homes over the years.

They were originally based at  RAF Little Rissington in Gloucestershire, then the Central Flying School, before moving to what is now Cotswolds Airport in 1966.

The arrows were moved once again to RAF Scampton, in Lincolnshire, in 1983.

But officials gave them the boot in late 2022 after 40 years at RAF Scampton.

Instead, the arrows were moved to RAF Waddington.

Scampton was to be turned into a site to house asylum seekers. Though, the plans were scrapped last year.

A version of this article was first published on May 6, 2025.,

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