An eye-catching flying boat will make its debut at this summer’s Wales Airshow – 75 years after it was hunting World War Two enemy submarines.

Miss Pick Up – a Consolidated Catalina plane that undertook wartime patrols off western Canada – could become a new crowd favourite at the Swansea event.

There are only around 12 airworthy Catalinas remaining and Miss Pick Up is the only one flying regularly in Europe.

The Wales Airshow, including attractions such as The Red Arrows, will see tens of thousands of spectators gather on Swansea Beach for two days of spectacular flying action on July 6 and 7.

This year also has – for the first time – an after-dark event on the Saturday. 

Robert Francis-Davies, the council’s cabinet member for investment, regeneration and tourism, said: “The Catalina will bring a real sense of history to the Wales Airshow in July.

“It’s also a great looking plane with a wow factor. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

“The Wales Airshow is already one of the UK’s biggest free events but this year, we wanted to do something extra to mark the city’s 50^th anniversary.

“The show is all about the spectacular and the huge crowds it draws really appreciate the aerial displays and ground events which form the main part of the event.”

The Catalina is arguably the most famous and successful flying boat ever built. They flew widely in World War Two, its crews claiming two Victoria Cross medals.

Since the war, they have served with military and commercial operators around the world and have found new leases of life as forest fire waterbombers, survey aircraft and air display stars.

2018 saw Miss Pick Up celebrate her 75th birthday. Since the war its roles have included those of a freighter and a search and rescue plane. It is based in Cambridgeshire and flies at air shows all over Europe.

Five years ago it took part in the 70th anniversary Battle of the Atlantic flypast down the Thames in London. Miss Pick Up is supported by an active fan club – The Catalina Society.

The full timetable for the Wales Airshow weekend is available by downloading the official App from the App Store currently priced at just £1.99.

Swansea Council confirm the Wales National Air Show will return on July 2nd & 3rd. Breathtaking aerobatic displays, state-of-the-art aircraft and vintage planes from the past will again be thrilling hundreds of thousands of visitors in the skies above Swansea this summer.

It’s the first time the Air Show will have been held on two consecutive summers as the council strives to make it an annual event.

Figures show the 2015 Wales National Air Show was worth more than £7.6 million to the local economy. An estimated 170,000 people packed the seafront last July to enjoy displays including the Red Arrows, a Eurofighter Typhoon, Chinook helicopters and aircraft from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Ground-based entertainment included tanks, military support vehicles, an assault course and marquees with information on careers in the Armed Forces.

Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Development and Regeneration, said: “We made a promise after last summer’s enormously successful Air Show to do all we could to make it an annual event in Swansea. This news shows we’re delivering on that promise.

“It’s our intention to make the yearly Air Show the one of the key anchor events of our hugely varied, family-friendly Enjoy Swansea programme, In making this an annual event we believe that this gives us greater opportunities to develop it even further. It makes it much more viable from a commercial perspective – particularly in terms of sponsorship and traders. Importantly, as a fixed date in the annual event calendar, it gives people a reason to visit and book their holidays in advance around the event. There are thousands of local people who also don’t want to miss it.
“The Air Show doesn’t just help raise Swansea’s profile and give local people world class entertainment on their doorstep – it also attracts many thousands of visitors to the city who spend their money in local shops, pubs, restaurants, hotels and other businesses.”

Other features of last year’s Air Show included the Royal Jordanian Falcons aerobatic team, the de Haviland Vampire and Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters. The Red Arrows performed on both days of 2015’s event, thanks to sponsorship and support from Swansea University.

“The fact that it’s now an annual event has already stimulated interest from a number of prospective commercial partners and we are working on putting these sponsorship packages in place and confirming the detail and the line-up of this summer’s event,” said Cllr Francis-Davies. “We’ll keep people up to date with developments over coming weeks and months – and would encourage everyone to keep an on www.walesnationalairshow.com”

Follow @walesairshow on Twitter and like the Wales National Airshow Facebook page for updates.