Alberta International Airshow set to take off again after 2 years

Pilots and parachuters are preparing to take off northwest of Edmonton over the long weekend.

The Alberta International Airshow runs Saturday and Sunday at the Villeneuve Airport, and organizers have high hopes the event will attract some new talent to the aeronautical industry.

The airshow is returning after two years of cancelled events, bringing together acrobatic stunts and aerial performances from nine different teams, including the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, the CF-18 Demo Team, the USAF A-10 Demo team and the Canadian Forces Skyhawks Parachute Team.

On the ground, visitors will have access to interactive exhibits and aircraft displays, a motocross show and monster truck rides.

For the first time, the airshow will also include a career fair exploring aerospace-related job opportunities in science, technology, mathematics and engineering.

"Airshows aren't meant to be just put pilots in the sky and go flippity flop, 90 per cent of it is on the ground," said Richard Skermer, president and CEO of the Alberta National Air Show.

Skermer said behind every pilot in the sky is a much larger group of people responsible for getting the plane in the air.

"Maintainers, engineers, designers, load masters, everything that makes that plane go before the pilots even get in there," Skermer said. "There's an army of people that are in aerospace."

Twenty aerospace employers and educational institutions will attend the career fair. Like the Canadian Armed Forces, many will be actively looking to recruit talent at the show.

Free Park and Ride Shuttles to the show will run from the Nakî Transit Centre in St. Albert between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Tickets are $29 for adults and $21 for youth, with free admission for kids under seven.

The grounds open at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with the airshow running from 12:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

Tickets are available online here.

Villeneuve is 12 kilometres west of St. Albert.