“The Beiras Airshow is a brand that the municipality and the Castelo Branco Aerodrome want to highlight. This year, the festival is extended to three days [in previous editions it was two days] and there will also be a new pre-festival, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday”, according to the director of the Castelo Branco Municipal Aerodrome, Amândio Nunes.

The festival promoted by Castelo Branco City Council and the University of Beira Interior (UBI), through the Aeronautical Engineering student group (AEROUBI), and returned to the aerodrome in 2023, after a four-year break.

Over the weekend, 70 model aircraft will be present at the aerodrome, as part of the FPAM anniversary celebrations, which chose the city of Castelo Branco this year.

The “Beiras Airshow 2024” will feature the presence of all sports linked to aeronautics, from parachuting, acrobatics, ballooning, and model aircraft, among others.

On the first day, an educational awareness campaign will take place for professions linked to aeronautics, and, during the afternoon, 50 people will have the opportunity to visit the planes parked on the apron, contact the pilots, and visit the control tower and the aircraft hangar.

The event opens at 6pm, followed by a hot air balloon session and an acrobatic demonstration.

On Saturday, early in the morning, the aircraft that will participate in the festival begin to arrive at Castelo Branco airfield.

Also in the morning, there are skydiving, acrobatics, and model airplane sessions.

Amândio Nunes also highlighted the presence of the Portuguese Air Force (FAP), which will provide four baptism flights.

“Four flights are planned [barring the occurrence of an emergency] for the best students from the Castelo Branco School Groups, for seniors who have never had the opportunity to fly in an aircraft, and the remainder for people who want to take their first flight, to which they have to register for”, explained the aerodrome director.

The last day of the festival, Sunday, will fill the morning with aerial acrobatics and parachuting, with the event scheduled to end at 3:30 pm.

The president of the municipality of Castelo Branco, Leopoldo Rodrigues, highlighted the “strong investment” that the municipality has made in boosting the municipal aerodrome, as well as the collaboration with the University of Beira Interior (UBI), through the Engineering Student Center Aeronautics (AEROUBI).