Officially known as the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, the Snowbirds are the military aerobatics flight team of the Royal Canadian Air Force. They are famous for their signature 9 jet, red-and-white precision formation flying
It was announced in May that the Snowbird jets are going to retire after the 2026 season. The CT-114 Tutor aircraft have being doing air shows for nearly 60 years.
Swiss-made CT-157 Siskin II jets will replace them and they will continue to serve as training and air demonstration aircraft. However, it could take until 2030 before they are ready to fly. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds Alumni Association has launched a campaign called “No Pause – Keep the Snowbirds Flying.”
The team is completing their 55th anniversary tour, which includes performances and flyovers across the Maritimes.
They will depart PEI at 1:30pm today (June 29), and come to Nova Scotia, flying over the following areas:
• Peggy’s Cove
• Halifax
• Sydney, NS (refueling stop)
• Baddeck, NS (site of the first controlled powered flight in Canada)
• Port Hawkesbury, NS
• Trenton, NS
• Truro, NS
• Debert, NS
On a flight tracking app or website, look for SNBD1.
Update at 3:30: For today’s second leg, the team will be departing Charlottetown around 4pm and will be proceeding to overfly Baddeck and Sydney, NS before returning to Summerside. They apologize if they missed your community and hope you can make it to Air Show Atlantic later this summer. They will be providing more updates as the flight progresses
Update at 2:39: Due to current winds, the first leg has changed: Charlottetown is replacing Sydney as the fuel stop. They will still pass over Sydney on the second leg, just without stopping.
