New runway tempting air show back to Summerside

The Atlantic Canada International Air Show wants to come back to P.E.I., attracted by a newly-surfaced runway at SlemonPark.

Summerside has hosted the show three times before, the last being in 2015. The show usually goes out of Shearwater in Nova Scotia, but that site is getting too busy to host them.

It'd be a very different kind of airshow than we've had for the last couple here. Colin Stephenson

The air show is asking the city to chip in $40,000 as host: $20,000 in cash and $20,000 in in-kind donations such as fire services.

Air show executive director Colin Stephenson said the newly resurfaced runway at Slemon Park is a big draw for them.

"Summerside's been an excellent venue for us," said Stephenson.

"We're really excited about the opportunity to come back with the new runway where we can land the jets in front of the fans and thensee everybody get in and get out and have autograph sessions with the pilots and that sort of thing, so it'd be a very different kind of airshow than we've had for the last couple here and I think that's one of the main attractions."

The group is also asking for $20,000 from the accommodations levy in Summerside, and a further $110,000 in combination from the federal and provincial governments.

If all that funding comes in, the show would be at Slemon Park Aug. 25 and 26.

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