Aviaticka Pout 2025
Pardubice, 7-8 June 2025
Each year, the biggest warbird airshow of Czechia and perhaps even Central Europe takes place at the airport of Pardubice. The event is known as Aviatická Pout’, or aviation pilgrimage. Last year’s show struggled with the weather. Would this year enjoy better luck?
Pardubice airport is a growing commercial airport that welcomes several low-cost airlines for regularly scheduled flights, causing some unfortunate but fortunately still rare disruptions to the flying programme. Besides this, it is also the homebase of CLV, a subsidiary of the state-owned company LOM Praha. They train all Czech military pilots on a variety of aircraft. Their fleet was very much in evidence both in the static display and in the flying programme.
Causing more disruptions than passenger flights was the weather unfortunately. While is regretable to see a display aircraft going off into the hold while you see the approach lights of a Ryanair 737 way off in the distance on approach, constant rain is a fair bit more annoying. On Saturday, most of the day was a wash-out even if the flying display carried on in the rain, while on Sunday, it was a bit dryer save for an extended interruption in the flying programme when a severe thunderstorm passed. This caused the cancellation of several display items whilst also causing some damage to some tents of trade stands.
For the second year running, the announced Me262 replica had to cancel, this time due to technical woes instead of severe weather at its home airfield. The highlight for many in the static park also came from Germany, in the shape of a Tornado IDS from WTD61.
In the flying display, there were several firsts, which made the show highly interesting. Obviously, the debut of the Avro Anson that joined RAF Station Czechoslovakia from New Zealand drew a lot of attention both in the air and on the ground. Other premieres included a new Czech Hawker Hurricane, the new L-39NG Skyfox of CLV and the Aviatik Berg D1, not forgetting the new Bleriot XI replica in honour of the first Czech pilot, Jan Kaspar, a Pardubice native, taking to the air in horrible conditions on Sunday at the show. The ‘old’ replica we saw in repvious years was on display in a shopping mall in the center of Pardubice to promote the airshow. The Hurricna was planned to open the show on Saturday in formation with two Czech air force Gripens, but this plan fell through on account of the weather.
With a flying display that runs from 12:00 until 17:00, it never felt stretched out, such was the variety of aircraft that took part.
Other highlights in the flying display included 5 warbirds from the Flying Bulls Hangar 7, the Czech Flying Bulls, the Swiss Classic Formation with C-47 and 3 Beech 18s, and several contributions from the Czech airforce. Also making a welcome return was the Slovenian air force with their award-winning PC9M display.
All in all, Aviaticka Pout offered a varied programme. Add to that a wide range of activities on the ground outside the flying display and it’s fair to say that this show was still very much worth a visit, despite the weather conditions. The nearby city of Pardubice is also worth a visit so it can all combine into a nice weekend out. The show may lack some star quality for a lot of enthusiasts, but it is clearly a passion project for the small team who run the event year after year. Who knows, if you visit, their passion may prove to be contagious!
