EAA AirVenture Reports Record Attendance, Exhibitor Participation

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) reported today that last week’s AirVenture Oshkosh event set records for attendance and commercial exhibitors. Continuing to bounce back from COVID-19 challenges, the weeklong celebration of general aviation has leapfrogged into numbers surpassing pre-pandemic norms.

Jack Pelton, EAA CEO and chairman, said, “This year’s tagline was ‘Inspiring the Future of Aviation’ and AirVenture 2024 certainly did that in countless ways. The mix of innovation, history, excitement, and fun that is a hallmark of Oshkosh was present throughout the grounds and made the event a memorable one, filled with numerous ‘Only at Oshkosh’ moments in the air and on the grounds.”

Overall attendance was tagged at approximately 686,000 clicks of the turnstile, besting last year’s record total of 677,000. There were 861 commercial exhibitors on site, a record. More than 10,000 aircraft flew into Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) and surrounding overflow airports in east-central Wisconsin, according to EAA. Air traffic at KOSH totaled 16,780 operations over the 11 days surrounding AirVenture—averaging 113 takeoffs and landings per hour during the hours the airport was in operation.

A total of 2,846 showplanes were parked onsite, including 1,200 vintage aircraft, 975 homebuilts, 337 warbirds, 154 ultralight/light planes, 82 aerobatic aircraft, 65 seaplanes and amphibians, 23 rotorcraft and 10 balloons.

More than 15,000 campsites—split between aircraft and drive-in locations—accommodated more than 40,000 AirVenture attendees. Close to 6,000 volunteers put in more than 250,000 hours of work to help support the event. EAA social media reached out to 23.9 million people worldwide. Total social media video views beat last year’s number by 149% at 17 million, reflecting an increase of followers of nearly 45,000. Livestreaming and on-demand video output accounted for more than 142,000 hours of AirVenture coverage.

Looking ahead to AirVenture 2025, planned for July 21-27, Pelton said, “We’ve already received plenty of ideas for next year and a little bit later this summer, we’ll begin reviewing what might be possible. Our annual goal is to create a gathering of people and airplanes that is found nowhere else in the world, and continue to improve the experience for EAA members and visitors.”