Al Ain: Turkish Stars, a leading military display team, will come to the Oasis city to show their spell binding skills in the air for the first time in the UAE.
The squadron is the latest aerobatic team that has confirmed it will attend the Al Ain Aerobatic Show at the Al Ain International Airport from February 2 to 5, an official of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) — the event organisers, said.
The team features formations of up to nine F-5 fighter jets piloted by the Turkish Air Force's 134th Acroteam Squadron Command. The stars have performed in hundreds of displays around the world.
The Turkish Stars are the only national aerobatic team to fly with formations of eight supersonic aircraft, and in 2001 they sealed a world record by performing to an audience of more than a million people at an aerobatic show in Azerbaijan.
Faisal Al Shaikh, Events Manager of the ADTA, said the Turkish team has outstanding skills to entertain spectators. "Spectators are guaranteed a dazzling exhibition of aerobatic arts when the team flies above Al Ain in February. By joining some of the world's best display teams, they will help the Al Ain Aerobatic Show to raise the benchmark for world-class spectacles in the Middle East," he said.
The Al Ain Aerobatic Show is held under the patronage of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. It is organised by the ADTA in conjunction with the UAE Armed Forces.
Best teams
Now in its ninth year, the show has become firmly established as one of the world's top five aerobatic events. Pilots from over a dozen of the best formation teams in the world will visit the Oasis City to manoeuvre their agile aircraft over four days, in front of an expected record crowd of some 130,000. Taking centre-stage at the 2011 event will be the multi-discipline FAI Desert Challenge. Arranged by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the international governing body for air sports, the Desert Challenge will see six of the world's best pilots flying CAP232, Sukhoi 26 and Xtreme aircraft in classic and free-style competition formats.
Event schedule
- What: Al Ain Aerobatic Show
- When: February 2 to 5
- Where: Al Ain International Airport
