Pacific Airshow announces 2022 event dates, headliners in Huntington Beach

The Pacific Airshow is returning to Huntington Beach in 2022.

This year, event director Kevin Elliott just hopes for better fortune.

The aviation spectacle will be held Sept. 30 through Oct. 2. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, which are commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Air Force, will be returning along with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds to soar over the beach in Surf City.

“It’s really exciting to have both of them coming back again for 2022,” Elliott said, adding that the Thunderbirds will be making their fifth appearance at the show and the Snowbirds their fourth. “We’re locked in and ready to roll ... It’s going to be our biggest and best year yet by far in 2022.”

Additionally, Elliott said that the Afterburner Music Festival, which debuted last year, will return to Huntington City Beach on the Friday and Saturday night of the show. Performers have yet to be announced.

The Thunderbirds recently completed their four-month training program to be ready for this year’s show season. Their maneuvers now include a six-step display, which is new for the performance squadron, while the Snowbirds will return with their popular “aerial ballet” style of maneuvers.

The Pacific Airshow first took place in 2016 but has been hit with misfortune in recent years. The 2020 event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, while the final day of last year’s show was called off after a massive oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach.

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds criss-cross each other at the 2019 airshow.

(Raul Roa )

Elliott, who has put on the show with his Code Four production company since 2018, said the company remains in the process of refunding 100% of the Sunday tickets for last year’s event. The forced cancellation of the final day cost millions of dollars in revenue.

In 2019 the show generated more than $105 million of economic impact in Huntington Beach alone, according to a study commissioned by Visit Huntington Beach.

About 740,000 people visited the airshow in that year, according to the study.

Elliott, a Huntington Beach resident, said much of last year’s cancellation is unresolved with the city. But he remains optimistic for this year’s event, with more lineup announcements being unveiled in the coming weeks.

“We’re creating the No. 1 airshow in the U.S., and possibly the No. 1 airshow in the world,” he said. “From a local’s perspective, this has become a community event that we’re proud to have hosted here. I’m very proud to deliver an event that’s safe, family friendly and patriotic but also delivers significant economic impacts for our community.”

The Pacific Airshow has an app available for more information. Elliott said plans are in place for the event to be broadcast live on Hulu for the second straight year.

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