Plans for Kirkcaldy to host a major airshow this year have been grounded.
It was hoped the town’s waterfront could host the Scottish International Airshow (SIA) in August or September but organising a large scale event at such short notice proved too ambitious.
The event is normally held in Ayr and SIA were considering Fife for 2019 while South Ayrshire Council took a year out.
Kirkcaldy Labour councillor Neil Crooks said: “It’s a huge task to tie it all together, and we wouldn’t want to host something like this unless we have all the right preparations in place to really bring some benefit to Kirkcaldy.
“Initially talks had centred on holding an airshow at Kirkcaldy waterfront later this year and we’ve been looking at how best to bring it all together.
“Obviously it would have been great to bring an airshow to Kirkcaldy in 2019, but we have to make sure that we could do the event and the town justice.
“That’s why we’re now looking at 2021 as a more likely time to bring an airshow to the town.”
Hosting the event would come at a cost, with South Ayrshire Council investing £200,000 in last year’s event but the local economy was boosted by an estimated £4.8 million by the two day aircraft extravaganza.
Doug McLean, chief executive of SIA, said: “We’re not planning anything for this year as it’s logistically impossible for something that big, but we’re hopeful for 2021.
“We like Kirkcaldy, the long promenade is ideal, and it’s got a huge advantage of having a mainline railway station.”
