Florida International Air Show: Blue Angels return to Punta Gorda in 2025

Earle Kimel, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·3 min read
The Blue Angels make a formation pass down the length of the runway at Naval Station Mayport on Oct. 19, 2023. The Blue Angels will appear at the Florida International Air Show on Nov 1-2, 2025.
The Blue Angels make a formation pass down the length of the runway at Naval Station Mayport on Oct. 19, 2023. The Blue Angels will appear at the Florida International Air Show on Nov 1-2, 2025.

PUNTA GORDA – Florida International Air Show President Denise Dull came home from the International Council of AirShows convention in Las Vegas with headliners for both the 2024 and 2025 air shows.

The biggest news involves the return of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels to Punta Gorda on Nov. 1-2, 2025.

The Blue Angels last appeared at the air show in 2012.

The 2024 air show will be built around an appearance by the Air Combat Command F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, based at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina.

Details of both the 2024 show, set for Nov 2-3, and the 2025 show will be updated at https://www.floridaairshow.com.

A return 12 years in the making

Once named one of the “Ten Best Air Shows in the World,” by USA Today, the Florida International Air Show started in 1982 and was a spring event until 2014 but went on hiatus in 2015 because of peak season costs

When it returned in the fall of 2016, the USAF Thunderbirds could appear but it was hard for the Blue Angels to find a suitable date.

The first weekend in November typically marks the Blue Angels homecoming show in Punta Gorda, as it will in 2024, but for 2025 the homecoming date was pushed back to Nov. 7-8, opening up that first weekend for Punta Gorda.

Florida International Air Show President Denise Dull.
Florida International Air Show President Denise Dull.

“It takes a lot for them to push that,” Dull said. “They wanted to come to Punta Gorda.”

F-16 Viper Demo team headlines 2024 show

U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper Demo Team last appeared in Punta Gorda in 2021.

Master Sgt. Brandon Baden, the  F-16 Viper Demo Maintenance Team Lead, noted in a prepared statement that they were happy to return for 2024.

US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base flown by Major Garret Toro Schmitz performs at the 2021 Florida International Air Show.
US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base flown by Major Garret Toro Schmitz performs at the 2021 Florida International Air Show.

“We have not experienced the overall hospitality, at other air shows, as we received from the Florida International Air Show organizers and fans,” Baden said.

The demonstration team, which features a single F-16CM Fighting Falcon, showcases its unique capabilities with precision aerial maneuvers.

"A single ship team can be just as exciting as a jet team because you get the loud and fast of a jet but it brings some of the smaller enhancement,” Dull said.

The team also works with the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation to give air show spectators a sense of the Air Force’s history as well as its current capabilities.

What is the air show?

The show is a 501 C4 nonprofit corporation staffed by volunteers. Nonprofit and civic groups take advantage of the show for fundraising and exposure. It has distributed more than $3 million to Southwest Florida charities since its inception in 1982.

Dull noted that after cancellations because of runway work at the Punta Gorda Airport 2020 and 2022, the show is again hitting its stride on the air show circuit.

“Our show is gaining momentum and excitement just in general,” Dull said “Everybody knows that we’re very good hosts and we put out a good show and they want to come."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida Air Show schedules set for 2024 and 2025; Blue Angels return