THE wait is finally over and the first action in the skies over Bournemouth is set for today.

As the Bournemouth Air Festival 2018 gets underway, visitors are being urged to use the town's park and ride services as car parks will be extremely congested during the event.

There will also be road closures in place so check at bournemouthair.co.uk

Park & Ride will operate from Kings Park(BH7 7AF) and Redhill Park (BH9 2SW), and drop off at Manor Road (BH1 3EZ)

It is approximately a five to ten minute walk to the event site from Manor Road.

Times for Kings Park, which costs £10 per car on Thursday and Sunday, and £12 on Friday and Saturday, are:

n Thursday 9am – last bus at 11pm

n Friday 9am – last bus at 11pm

n Saturday 9am – last bus at 11pm

n Sunday 9am – last bus at 7pm

Times for Redhill Park, which costs £12 per car on Friday and Saturday, and £10 on Sunday, are:

n Friday 9am – last bus 11pm

n Saturday 9am – last bus at 11pm

n Sunday 9am – last bus at 7pm

Disabled drivers will be able to access car parks at the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth Town Centre (BH2 5DJ) and at Sea Road on Boscombe Overstrand.

Accessible viewing is at Monkey Island (at the Boscombe end of the East Overcliff) - with 80 blue badge parking spaces.

Local bus operator Morebus is urging enthusiasts to leave their cars at home and hop on-board to join the festivities.

Morebus head of operations Nikki Honer said: "This is a wonderful occasion for the whole region, with so many attractions on offer in the air and on the ground.

It is so popular we know car parks will be very busy. But those attending can bypass the need to find somewhere to leave their cars because we will have plenty of buses on hand to get them closer to the action."

Morebus' M1 and M2 buses run between Poole, Bournemouth, Castlepoint, Boscombe and Southbourne up to every three minutes throughout the day.

Meanwhile, a 72 hour rail strike is planned for August 31 to September 2, so check the amended train timetable.