To cut costs and free up resources, the Swiss Air Force has announced a substantial reduction in its airshow commitments for 2025, with F-18 Hornet displays being axed and fewer shows due to be performed.
Most notably, the air force is suspending its long-standing F-18C Hornet solo displays – the second Hornet solo display to be axed in a matter of days, following a similar announcement by the Royal Canadian Air Force last week. In both cases, the displays are being axed to free up resources as each air arm prepares to swap the Hornet for the F-35A Lightning II, with Canada and Switzerland’s first F-35s due to arrive in 2026 and 2027 respectively.
Swiss Hornet displays have been suspended, rather than permanently axed, leaving open the possibility of resurrecting them at a later date – perhaps after the retirement of the Patrouille Suisse’s F-5s. The same is not true of the Swiss Para Wings parachute display team, which is being permanently disbanded. Instead, the Parachute Reconnaissance Company will perform a limited number of demonstrations throughout the year.
However, it is not all bad news; while two displays are being withdrawn, a new one is being added to the roster, with a select number of Pilatus PC-21 solo displays due to be performed throughout the season. This display – previously seen on very rare occasions, including AXALP – is being included to showcase modern Swiss Air Force flight training, which had not generally been represented on the airshow circuit.
There is good news, too, for the Patrouille Suisse, the country’s national aerobatic team. After facing an uncertain few years, with rumours that they could have been axed at the end of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, it has now been confirmed that the team will continue to operate until at least 2027, flying the F-5E Tiger II.
The last Swiss F-5s are currently due to be withdrawn from service in 2027, and the Patrouille Suisse’s future beyond this point is undecided. Options include disbanding the team altogether, transferring the Patrouille Suisse brand to the PC-7 Team, re-equipping with a new aircraf type such as the Pilatus PC-21, or extending the life of the F-5 yet further, although the latter two scenarios seem unlikely. The future of the Patrouille Suisse beyond 2027 is currently being evaluated at the political level.
The Swiss Air Force’s TH.06 Super Puma solo display and the nine-ship PC-7 TEAM will continue as normal in 2025. The Super Puma’s show routine may be adapted to place a greater focus on operational capabilities and techniques.
Although the Swiss Air Force will retain a healthy number of display teams overall for the 2025 season, opportunities to see each team will be more limited than usual. Typically, the air force provides displays at around 50 events around Europe every year. To cut costs, this number will be halved. The number of displays outside Switzerland will see the biggest cut, with Swiss Air Force displays only venturing abroad in “exceptional circumstances.”
Seperately, the Swiss military was already in the midst of another budget shortfall that caused the cancellation of all public events organised by the Army and Air Force. This included cancelling the Swiss Air Force’s planned 110th anniversary airshow in Emmen earlier this year, and scrapping the popular AXALP airshow and live fire exercise in both 2024 and 2025.
The Swiss airshow scene has suffered several major blows in recent years. The country’s classic jet population has dwindled, with Hunters, Vampires and a rare Mirage III being grounded. Of the country’s two largest civilian airshows – the Breiting Sion Airshow and ZigAirMeet in Mollis – one has not been held since 2017, and the other recently announcd it is facing a major budget shortfall following a spectacular but financially-unrewarding show in 2023. It appears that, for a second consecutive year, Switzerland will not host a major airshow in 2025.