The 36th Warbirds Over Wānaka airshow will roar into action this Easter, but behind the scenes organisers are accessing a contingency fund to help offset rising fuel expenses threatening participation.
General manager Ed Taylor said while preparations were on track — aircraft arriving daily and gates set to open at 7.30am on Good Friday — the fuel price squeeze had forced difficult conversations.
‘‘We didn’t plan for this to happen but it has,’’ he said.
The contingency fund was aimed at easing the burden on aircraft owners facing significantly higher costs to travel to Wānaka.
Organisers were working closely with participants to ensure the show went on largely unaffected.
‘‘We’re going to have quite a few of the aircraft delivered this weekend, then more will follow every day until the show.
‘‘The F22 Raptors are not due to arrive until next week but an advance party of ground crew have arrived early.’’
If things did not change much from now, financially, he expected it to be ‘‘OK’’ — but it would cost aircraft owners more to get there.
He was not aware of any participants pulling out of the show at this stage.
Despite the uncertainty, ticket demand remained strong.
Saturday and Sunday tickets to the show at Wānaka Airport had sold out, while tickets were still available for a beefed-up Friday programme.
The free lakefront community display would also return this year, at 5.30pm on Good Friday.
Meanwhile, fuel suppliers did not respond to questions about how they would manage extra demand in general in the town over Easter, but said they were managing tight supply conditions linked to ongoing instability in the Middle East.
The influx of visitors expected is already driving up accommodation demand and prices in Wanaka.
As of yesterday, Airbnb showed 73 homes available for rent over the Easter weekend, compared with 380 homes available the weekend after Easter.
One property still available over the long weekend was listed at $1312 for three nights compared with $998 for three nights the following weekend.
