MEI Member Aeroava Closes Wales Airshow with Grand Finale Over Swansea Bay
On 25th July, Aeroava closed the first-ever Afterburn evening show at the Wales Airshow, the grand finale of a free event that draws over 200,000 visitors to Swansea Bay every year.
225 drones flew for 12 minutes above a packed Swansea seafront, in a display built entirely around Welsh and local references: a 380ft ice cream cone, Dylan Thomas's signature, a fire-breathing dragon, Mumbles Lighthouse, a daffodil, and a saxophone with musical notes, among a wide range of scenes celebrating the city and its culture.
For Aeroava Managing Director Tom Rees, the show held particular significance, he grew up in Swansea, and delivering the display to this audience, in this city, was a genuinely personal moment.
The show formed part of a strong summer for Aeroava, which also closed the 2026 FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft at BMFA Buckminster the week before, a record-breaking event drawing 111 competitors from 23 nations across five continents.
Aeroava is now also one of the first UK operators licensed to fly pyrotechnic drones, a genuinely new capability, with UK displays planned for later this year and 2027.
