Organisers of RIAT, the UK’s most famous airshow, have announced that the main theme for next year’s event will be ‘Fighter Meet’, celebrating over a century of air to air combat aircraft.
Scheduled for 17th-19th July 2026, the Royal International Air Tattoo, or RIAT, is one of the highlights of the world’s airshow calendar and attracts displays from air arms all across the globe. It has, with a few interruptions due to airfield works, been held at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, since the mid 1980s.
Each year a number of themes for each edition of the airshow are selected, with 2025’s main event theme ‘Eyes in the Skies’ celebrating maritime patrol, search and rescue, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft.
To represent the theme, RIAT 2025 saw a unique air display by a frontline-equipped U-2S Dragon Lady, the first ever airshow appearance of a Royal Air Force E-7A Wedgetail AEW1, and static appearances by a U.S. Air Force RC-135V Rivet Joint, French Air and Space Force E-3F Sentry, Spanish Air Force Sikorsky HD.24 (S-76C), and many more.
Next year’s event will celebrate air to air fighter aircraft throughout history, with organisers coining the theme ‘Fighter Meet’. While we are still a way off from seeing a long list of confirmed participants, enthusiasts can be sure to expect many display appearances from Typhoons, F-35 Lightning IIs, and F-16 Fighting Falcons, along with a selection of Rafales, Mirages, Gripens, F/A-18 Hornets, F-15 Eagles, and MiG-29s. Many will be hoping – no-one moreso than the RIAT organisers themselves – for rare visits from more elusive types like the F-22 Raptor, Su-27 Flanker, and F-4 Phantom.
Participation from the newest fighters will almost certainly benefit from the presence of Farnborough International Airshow on the calendar. Farnborough is one of the aviation industry’s key trade events, held every two years on an alternating basis with the Paris Air Show.
Historic representation is sure to come in the form of many of the UK and Europe’s airworthy warbirds, including Supermarine Spitfires, P-51 Mustangs, and Hawker Hurricanes. Airworthy replicas of early fighters like the Sopwith Camel and Fokker Dr.1 will almost certainly appear in some form, as will historic jet types still operated either by private owners or contractors like the Hawker Hunter, Gloster Meteor, A-4 Skyhawk, and MiG-15. Eyes will be on the participation list for possible appearances from the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight’s ever popular Saab Draken and Saab Viggen fighters, returning after a debut appearance in 2022.
Royal Flight
A secondary theme for RIAT 2026 – ‘Royal Flight’ – will mark 30 years since the airshow was granted its Royal status by Queen Elizabeth II. This will showcase aircraft used for VIP transportation. The Royal Air Force’s newest dedicated VIP transport aircraft, the Dassault Envoy IV CC1, made its debut RIAT appearance in 2025 after replacing two BAe 146 aircraft, and this would be the most obvious aircraft to have attend – perhaps forming part of a flypast with the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows display team.
The theme may also see the attendance of the UK Government’s own civilian chartered Airbus A321, which is operated by Titan Airways. Registered as G-GBNI, the current aircraft, construction number 8830, formerly carried the registration G-POWT. Oddly, and in contravention of normal UK aircraft registration rules, G-GBNI has in fact been carried by two different airframes, with the first aircraft, construction number 10238, now flying for Titan as G-OATW.
In a similar paint scheme to the Envoy IVs and the A321 is the Royal Air Force’s own ZZ336, or ‘Vespina’, an A330 MRTT Voyager which was outfitted for a secondary role providing VIP transport. Though less commonly used for this purpose now other aircraft are available, it remains in service with the distinctive paint scheme and is regularly seen operating in its tanker role over the UK, and would be a perfect fit for the Royal Flight theme while also showcasing one of the RAF’s most visible aircraft types and capabilities.
Aircraft from the many European VIP fleets will undoubtedly result in Fairford resembling an airport hosting arrivals for an international conference. Types in service across Europe include many variants of Airbus A320 and Dassault Falcon, along with Boeing 737s, Gulfstreams, Airbus A310s, A330s, and A350s.
Europe-based U.S. military VIP aircraft in the form of a C-21 or C-37 may attend – in fact, it is not unprecedented for one of these aircraft to slip in during the weekend if any senior U.S. military personnel are attending the event itself – though many will hope for organisers to pull a figurative rabbit from the hat and achieve an overseas appearance by one of the 89th Airlift Wing’s famous VIP-schemed C-32s or C-40s.
A @usairforce Gulfstream C-37B registered 06-0500 landing at RAF Fairford before the flying display started on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/nztthJyq7X
— DanteMan (@EGLLSpotter) July 22, 2024
RIAT 2022 was considered a great year for the show in many ways, but one major star attraction was the first ever international airshow appearance by a Boeing E-4B Nightwatch. Though its role extends quite beyond simply VIP transport, it would certainly fall within the theme’s remit and guarantee satisfaction from many aviation enthusiasts if a repeat visit could be achieved.
As RIAT’s organisers reiterate every year, the process for ‘booking’ aircraft to attend the airshow is incredibly complex. VIP aircraft, due to their very nature, will be one of the most prized and closely guarded aircraft in the inventories of many air forces, and not a type that is routinely top of the list for airshows. Those at Douglas Bader House, RIAT’s year-round office address, will certainly have their work cut out for them with this theme, but we are excited to see what magic they can perform.
