Every year, the Imperial War Museum (IWM) Duxford holds a flying season allowing guests of the museum to get up close to some historic aircraft. The flying season also involves impressive air shows featuring aircraft not only from IWM Duxford, but often planes from around the world.
The IWM Duxford is usually open for visitors to explore before the air shows for people to walk around the learn more about the airbase’s past. If you want to spend a whole day at the museum, the flying weekends often have a lot of activities for both adults and children to get involved in and sometimes visits from the Red Arrows.
If you love history and want to see one of the incredible displays, you might want to start planning ahead. Here are all of the flying displays happening in 2026 and how you can get tickets.
Flying Days: VE Day
Date: Saturday, May 9
To open the flying season, the IWM Duxford will be holding a special VE Day air show. This themed display day will celebrate “the role aviation made in the path to victory during the Second World War”.
Tickets for the VE Day show will be released on Monday, March 9.
Flying Days: D-Day
Date: Saturday, June 6
The D-Day flying display will retell the story of the invasion of Normandy. The flying display usually involves a range of historic aircraft including spitfires and the Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann.
Tickets for the D-Day display will be released on Tuesday, April 7.
Duxford Summer Air Show
Date: Saturday, July 4, and Sunday, July 5
The Duxford Summer Air Show is one of the biggest events at IWM Duxford and takes place over a whole weekend. The museum will be open from 8am until 6pm with a range of entertainment happening throughout the day such as live music and fairground rides.
The display usually takes place at around 1pm and features “unique flying formations”. Tickets for both of the summer air shows are already available to buy.
Flying Days: The Americans
Date: Friday, July 24
This flying day will focus on “two nations united through war, loss, love, and duty”. If you want to learn more about the USA’s involvement in the Second World War, you might want to visit the museum for this air show.
Tickets for the Americans flying day will be available from Monday, May 25.
Duxford Flying Evening
Date: Saturday, August 22
The flying evening not only feature historic aircraft putting on impressive performances but will also have pyrotechnic displays that will “light up the night sky”. The museum will be open from 5pm to 9.30pm to allow people to grab some drinks and food before finding a good spot to watch the show.
Tickets for the flying evening are already available to buy.
Duxford Battle of Britain Air Show
Date: Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13
The IWM Duxford will be taken back in time to the 1940s with living history groups walking around and even a vintage hairdresser to give you the perfect 1940s look. The two air displays will mark 90 years since the first flight of the Spitfire prototype.
Tickets for both of the Battle of Britain air shows are already available to buy.
Duxford Flying Finale
Date: Saturday, October 3
To finish the flying season for 2026, IWM Duxford will be holding a flying finale in the autumn. At last years flying finale, the famous Red Arrows made an appearance alongside a performance from the RAF Typhoon Display Team.
Tickets for the flying finale show are already available to buy.
Tickets for all of the events can be bought from the IWM Duxford website when they have been released. You can sign up to the email newsletter to be the first to know when the tickets go on sale.