Warbirds Over Wānaka general manager Ed Taylor has confirmed no gate sales are available for the March 30 event and gate sales for March 31 "cannot be guaranteed at this stage".
The Otago Daily Times has received calls from disappointed members of the public about the lack of gate sales on the Saturday, and asking why the airshow could not accommodate as many as possible, given it was held in huge paddocks at Wānaka Airport.
Mr Taylor said the event usually attracted about 55,000 people and about 25,000 tickets were allocated for Saturday.
However, another 2000 tickets had been released and sold for the Saturday because of the unprecedented demand.
Several thousand tickets were still available for the Sunday but they were going fast, he said.
"It is about making sure we have enough carparks, toilets and food vendors and making the experience good for everyone.
"We don’t want to pack everyone in ... We are comfortable people will still have a really good experience on Saturday."
He could not categorically say why tickets had sold out for Saturday, other than Saturday was usually the bigger show day, with about 5000 more guests than the Sunday.
The Friday practice day usually attracted about 10,000 guests and was free for children and cheaper for adults, making it a good less-expensive experience for families, he said.
Mr Taylor said he had been saying since last year there was unprecedented demand for tickets and he did not know what more he could have said to warn people tickets were selling fast.
"It is a great event and it has been a long time since we had the last one.
"And you look at the A&P Show on Saturday — it was a zoo!
"People still want to go to a big event," he said.
The last Warbirds airshow was held in 2018. Covid pandemic restrictions ruined plans for the 2020 and 2022 shows.
