Benalla Airshow attendance fails to meet expectations due to heat

The 36-degree conditions followed the Gliding Club of Victoria postponing the show from November due to flooding.

Club member and airshow facilitator Bruce Cowan estimates a huge number opted not to attend the display at the Benalla airport.

"It went very well but the attendance was a bit down, most likely people were scared away by the heatwave," Mr Cowan said.

"We had in the vicinity of 2000 to 2500 people, we were hoping for significantly more than that, but it's the first event of that sort held in Benalla and people may have been a bit wary."

There were moans about a lack of shade.

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"In the future if we do it again certainly more shade will be included, but let's face it the chances of getting a heatwave day in the middle of March aren't high," Mr Cowan said.

He said a post mortem would be needed before the club decided if the show returned.

"We will have to sit down and say 'are we doing this or if we do, do we do it every year or every two years?," Mr Cowan said.

Half the tickets were bought before Saturday and the remainder at the gate.

Data on how many onlookers travelled from around the North East and Border or Melbourne is yet to be broken down.

Benalla mayor Bernie Hearn along with Victorian and federal MPs Annabelle Cleeland and Helen Haines attended.

"I thought it was brilliant, absolutely brilliant," Cr Hearn, who had predicated an attendance of 7000, said.

"It was very exciting, the planes, the aerobatics - there was one plane that had wings that folded out."

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