2022 Miramar Air Show Cleared for Takeoff, Marines Say

The twice-canceled annual Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show is back on for 2022, the base announced Tuesday.

The Miramar Air Show is the largest military air show in the world, according to the Marines, traditionally drawing about 500,000 attendees over three days to the San Diego base each September. It features military vehicle displays, aerobatic flyers and high-intensity military flight demonstrations. The event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 over pandemic health concerns.

"It's been almost three years since MCAS Miramar was able to open its doors to our neighbors and share in our love of aviation," said Col. Thomas Bedell, the commanding officer of the base, in a statement. "We are proud to call America's Finest City home and bring back one of the world's most anticipated aviation exhibitions."

Flight demonstrations are planned by a Marine F-35B Lightning II and the Air Force's F-22 Raptor demonstration team, the statement said. The Navy's Blue Angels are also scheduled to perform. The theme for this year is " Marines: Fight, Evolve, Win," which will highlight the large-scale restructuring and modernization of the Marine Corps as it pivots away from the desert wars of the last two decades and re-focuses on its amphibious mission with an eye toward the Pacific.

MCAS Miramar was front and center during the pandemic's earliest stages, as it was one of several bases selected to house Americans evacuated from China under quarantine in January 2020.

By the spring, the Marines had canceled that year's air show. In 2021, the service again pulled the plug.

This year's show is scheduled for Sept. 23-25. Admission is free and details are available on the show's website.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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