THE Vulcan bomber flew down from Doncaster during the air festival because the team decided it was cheaper than using Bournemouth Airport .

The historic plane, inset, is operated by a trust funded by public donations and it decided the 400-mile round trip from its homebase was more cost effective.

A Bournemouth businessman told the Echo: “The reason they kept flying up and down from Doncaster was that Hurn wanted to charge them landing, take off and parking, which doesn’t seem very charitable.”

A Bournemouth Airport spokesperson said: “We are a great supporter of the Air Festival and work closely with private and military aircraft who use the airport as a base for the event.

“We offered the Vulcan Trust a significant discount for their landing fees Bournemouth as we wanted to encourage them to use the airport not just for the air show but also for other planned appearances on the South Coast and this offer remains open.”

The Vulcan To The Sky Trust did not reply to several phone and email enquiries last week.

The plane, which was designed to carry nuclear weapons, appeared on the Saturday and Sunday of the festival and is said to boost airshow attendance by 10 per cent.