Florida International Air Show cancelled

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.- The Florida International Air Show has been grounded.

Air Show organizers announced the cancellation Friday.

The event is held every year at the Punta Gorda Airport, and was supposed to take place March 27-29th.

The air show brought big-name acts like the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds to the airport for the past 34 years.

Organizers say they scrapped the show because of a lack of support, from several different areas.

Bucky McQueen, with the Board of Directors, says they lost a presenting sponsor. He says a bad economy means businesses aren’t spending money to sponsor events.

Also, in the past, the Air Show paid just county deputies for their services.

This year, the county asked organizers to pay Fire/EMS as well. That’s an additional $10,000 they didn’t have to pay before.

McQueen says the county has also shown a lack of support, because the event takes place during high tourism season.

We spoke with the Director of Tourism for Charlotte County, who says the air show asked for an additional $50,000 in funds, but says the money they make in bed tax, which goes back to the department, doesn’t come close to that amount.

McQueen added that the airshow donates money to 47 charities each year after the event and didn’t feel comfortable putting on the event if they aren’t going to make the money they promised.

The show costs $607,000 to put on each year.