Air Grand Prix for Durban

THE first every Land, Sea and Air Festival will come to Durban from 20 to 23 March.

Durbanites can expect a free-for-all entertainment spectacle on the city’s popular beachfront. North Beach will become a hive of activity showcasing all Durban has to offer during the festival.

The main attraction of the festival is the never seen before Sky Grand Prix where the best pilots in South Africa and five world champion aerobatics pilots will take each other on to see who is best in the sky. Featuring high-performances planes and 20m-high pylons, the Durban Sky Prix of Aerobatics will offer grandstand viewing and hospitality suites.

The idea of having the first sky aerobatics competition in Durban was born when Durban businessman Roger Deare, and Nigel Hopkins of Johannesburg, set out to give South African pilots international recognition for their talents and skill. He said the competition would bring aviation closer to the people of Durban.

Pilots from Russia, France and Germany will take part in the aerobatic contest, a sequence of manoeuvres that will be timed.

Five international pilots and five local pilots will take part, but first, 10 local pilots will have to battle it out for a spot in the South African five position.

Aircraft like the Sukhoi 31, a powerful Russian aerobatic plane, an S Bach 342, and an MX 2, which will fly through pylons to be placed on the piers will be used.

Thabo Mofokeng, eThekwini Municipality spokesman, said the event’s budget is anticipated to be R10 million, which will be shared between the province, city and the private sector and organisers expect the number of visitors to the show to be between 20 000 and 30 000 a day.

Festival-goers can also expect live music, air-themed movies, a host of watersport competitions as well as action packed displays from the armed forces and SAPS.

Entry to the three-day festival is free.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/DurbanSkyGrandPrix