Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will not be axed (From Bournemouth Echo)

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will not be axed

10:30am Saturday 16th January 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(4)

THE Battle of Britain Memorial Flight which wowed more than a million Bournemouth Air Festival spectators last year will not be axed, the MOD have confirmed.

Defence bosses moved to end speculation after a national newspaper reported the historic flight was facing the end as part of sweeping £6billion MOD budget cuts.

Highlights below of the Bournemouth Air Festival 2009, including the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

Supporters feared the memorial flight’s £3million annual funding could be pulled, which would have been a hammer blow to the memory of World War Two airman, especially as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Bournemouth Air Festival bosses expect the flypast, which includes one of the world’s last two flying Lancaster bombers and a selection of iconic Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, should be making a welcome return to the festival this summer.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “There is no plan to cut any funding from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

“We routinely review all spending to balance our resources and focus on the highest priority – operations in Afghanistan.

“A wide range of options are always considered in each annual planning round but not all of these are taken.”

Meanwhile Battle of Britain Memorial Flight bosses said: “Air Command have advised us that the potential demise of the BBMF as a cost saving measure is untrue.”

Retired RAF Group Captain Douglas Cook, of Hamworthy, said: “The memorial flight and the Red Arrows are routinely sniped at because they are not front line aircraft.

“Just because the MOD says cuts won’t be implemented this year, does not mean this will remain the case in the future.”