There have been calls for the Newcastle Festival of Flight to return, after it was not included in a budget for the year ahead by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.
The airshow was last held in the town in 2019, before the pandemic.
Newry Mourne and Down District Council’s enterprise, regeneration and tourism committee voted not to include it in its budget for 2022/23.
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Jace Cambridge from Northern Ireland and Ireland Airshows, a group set up to celebrate and provide information about airshows on the island, said it was "disappointing" that the Festival of Flight would not be returning.
"The show brought in around 100,000 people each year to Newcastle, which helped boost the local businesses and the hospitality sector who have badly needed that extra boost since the coronavirus > Covid 19 pandemic," he said.
"Pre-pandemic it was estimated it brought in over £2m each summer to the local area.
"Since the announcement that the Festival of Flight would not take place this year, I have recieved hundreds of messages and comments from people expressing their disappointment on both the Newcastle Festival of Flight Facebook page and AirshowsNI Facebook page that the council once again cancelled the event, as well as many questions asking if the show will return in 2024."
Jace said that the public in both Northern Ireland and further afield were missing out while the Festival remained mothballed.
"With no airshow having taken place in Northern Ireland since 2019 there is a massive desire from aviation enthusiasts as well as the the general public looking to for events to attend with their families for Newcastle to bring back their annual airshow," he said.
"The show has in the past attracted visitors from far and wide as well as having show previews on UK and European Airshow websites.
"I believe the show has the potential for a bright future but the council need to show some initiative and bring back one of the most loved events in Northern Ireland as well as the most popular and biggest attended event in their council district."
DUP Slieve Croob councillor Alan Lewis said the council was working on looking at an updated budget estimate for 2024/25 to try and establish what costs would be involved.
“I welcome the work that Council officers have done by ensuring that there is a full schedule of events across the district with minimum and equal cuts to all," he said.
"It is however unfortunate that the Festival of Flight hasn’t featured or been considered, the last time this was ran it cost £260,000 in total, obviously this is a huge flagship event that has the potential for large returns and increased economic benefit," he said.
“Although disappointed, we have secured a commitment that officers will look toward an immediate updated budget estimate for the festival of flight to be included in the 2024/25 schedule, council will liaise with previous partners and air assets to establish the increased costs associated with staging this event."
Newry, Mourne and Dow District Council said it had assessed the event and based on those assessments, had decided not to proceed with adding it to this year's schedule for the area.
"The Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Tourism Events Programme was approved by full Council on 3 April.," a spokesperson said.
"The Festival of Flight is not included within the approved events programme and will therefore not take place in Newcastle this summer.
"Officers will assess the costs for hosting the Festival of Flight in 2024 and will table this with members."
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