Flying by – the 2025 airshow season

When The Flying Bulls fleet returns to Salzburg at the end of summer – to be showcased once again in Red Bull Hangar-7 and undergo annual maintenance – a long European journey comes to an end: from Leszno to Bucharest, from Spielberg to Norway. More than 120 requests for the 2025 season landed on the desk of event coordinator Simon Pircher – around 55 of them were realized. More would hardly be feasible logistically, and this precise balance ensures that The Flying Bulls can impress at every performance with full safety, precision, and quality.

Asked about his personal highlights of the season just ended, Simon Pircher doesn’t hesitate: “Leszno in Poland felt like a big family reunion. A motivated team, perfect organization, a night show with fireworks, drones and balloons – it’s simply a place you look forward to.” In his view, the Antidotum Airshow Festival has become a fixture in the European calendar in recent years. At home, too, there were goosebump moments: at the reopening of Red Bull Hangar-7, The Flying Bulls performed a display directly above their home base for the very first time. “For the pilots, a true highlight – and a logistical mammoth project.” The appearance at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Spielberg also left a strong impression. “We may have been just a side act before the race,” Simon explains, “but the stage is gigantic. Thousands of fans on site and countless more watching worldwide.” A new experience was the cooperation with a music festival in Norway. Airshow meets festival vibes – an experiment that paid off. And then Bucharest: over 200,000 spectators in the heart of the Romanian capital, with civil and military teams side by side – a spectacle on an XXL scale. Toward the end of the season, the Oldtimer Fliegertreffen at Hahnweide in Baden-Württemberg offered another true highlight for both crew and audience. Europe’s largest gathering of historic aircraft was held again for the first time after a five-year break. 
 

Airshows live and die by the weather, and 2025 was a lucky year in this regard: not a single cancellation due to rain or storms. An absolute rarity in the team’s history. “Of course, we had to stay flexible, sometimes leaving earlier to avoid a front. But nothing fell through,” Simon summarizes. Even the packed event calendar caused no issues. Despite numerous “back-toback weekends,” aircraft in constant use, technical inspections and strict safety and quality checks, the season ran smoothly. “That’s where the preparation at the training camp in Maribor really pays off: pilots and technicians rehearse under field conditions so that, in the end, everything meshes like gears.” Season fatigue? None at all. Both pilots and technicians rotated regularly – the motto was motivation, not routine.