New York Air Show returns to Orange County Airport in 2026
Thunderbirds headline Orange County Airport's Aug. 1-2 air show, after the 2024 event drew 26,000 visitors and up to $80 a day in spending.
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will headline the New York Air Show at Orange County Airport in Montgomery on Aug. 1 and 2, a weekend the county is banking on to fill hotels, pack restaurants and push visitors deeper into the Hudson Valley.
County Executive Steve Neuhaus announced the 2026 return as part of the Air Dot Show Tour, which makes eight national stops. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday at 500 Dunn Road, with gates opening at 9 a.m. each day. Tickets on the Air Dot Show site start at $69 per person, and on-airfield parking is included. Reserved lawn boxes, preferred seating and a Flight Line Club VIP option are also being offered.
The air show lineup is built around some of the most recognizable names in aviation and military pageantry. Along with the Thunderbirds, the schedule includes the World War II B-25J Mitchell bomber Panchito and the West Point Parachute Team. Food and beverage vendors will be on site, along with lawn-box seating and VIP areas that are designed to keep attendees on the airport grounds for much of the day.
For Orange County, the larger story is not just the aircraft overhead but the spending on the ground. Orange County Tourism said Placer AI estimated 26,000 visitors at the 2024 New York Air Show, including 14,500 on Sunday alone, with average spending of $60 to $80 per visitor per day. If the 2026 crowd comes close to that scale, the biggest gains could land in Montgomery, Middletown, Newburgh and the hotel and restaurant corridors that typically benefit when a major weekend event pulls in families from outside the county.
County officials are also tying the air show to America 250 and Orange County’s Revolutionary War heritage, using the event as a tourism hook beyond the airfield itself. Visitors are being pointed toward Woodbury Common, West Point, breweries, cideries and downtown shopping areas, a sign the county wants the air show to function as an entry point rather than a stand-alone attraction.
Orange County Airport gives the event a highly visible backdrop. The county describes it as a general aviation airport and the second-busiest untowered airport in New York State, a distinction that helps explain why it can handle a public event of this size. For nearby businesses, the weekend brings a concentrated burst of traffic, but the real question is whether the air show can keep those visitors spending after the gates close on Sunday evening.
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