Red Arrows To Temporarily Operate From RAF Waddington

The Red Arrows are to temporarily operate from RAF Waddington this week ahead of a permanent move to the base.

While the RAF aerobatics team will be based at the Waddington, they will continue to practise at RAF Scampton, the team announced on Twitter.

It will test how the Red Arrows can integrate into RAF Waddington, with the base set to become their new home.

In May, it was confirmed the Red Arrows would stay in their home county of Lincolnshire when RAF Scampton closes in 2022 as part of cost-cutting measures designed to save £3bn by 2040.

RAF Waddington, also in Lincolnshire, was named as the only suitable new home for the Red Arrows in an operational safety assessment.

The relocation is part of the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) plan to provide £4bn of upgrades over the next 10 years.

Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, Chief of the Air Staff, said earlier this year the team would be sorry to leave RAF Scampton but "delighted" to stay in Lincolnshire.

A group of campaigners is hoping to turn RAF Scampton –  where the famous 'Dambusters' squadron launched raids from during the Second World War – into a heritage site after its closure.

More than 600 people continue to work at the Lincolnshire base, and a local campaign group called ‘Save Scampton’ hopes to preserve its history.

Cover image: Red Arrows taxiing at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire ahead of Exercise Western Hawk in August last year (Picture: MOD).