PLANS to bring back Ayr's international airshow next year could end up facing a shortfall of more than £200,000 without financial support from South Ayrshire Council.

Authority officials issued the warning after previously admitting they hoped to break even or come close to doing so for the September 2023 event.

A total of £300,000 a year for five years is being sought to set up and establish the airshow.

But estimated figures in a new report paint a less confident picture, with income from sponsorship, advertising, concessions, parking charges, programme and merchandise sales, catering and VIP tickets estimated to be around £200,000.

Estimated expenditure, including education programmes, aviation support, event infrastructure, marketing, police and medical attendance would be around £407,000.

However, officers added that further and more detailed projections "cannot be produced until potential sponsors are contacted and until the charity partner can contact their potential sponsors and advertisers".

Officers had initially been asked to provide a robust scoping and financial plan within a month.

However, after it was stated that such a deadline would be difficult, it was agreed that officials would provide the detail to the council's audit and governance panel before authority sets its 2023-24 budget in the new year.

However, this week officers managed to bring the estimated figures to a meeting of the same panel, after undertaking a scoping exercise based on previous events and in consultation with airshow partners SKYLAB.

The panel was asked to note the estimate income and expenditure, with a recommendation that no further report be brought to the committee - effectively reneging on the agreement to present the detailed financial plan to the panel.

Instead, the report asked that the more detailed information would simply be relayed to councillors as part of the budget setting meeting.

The council's Labour opposition group leader, Councillor Brian McGinley, said the report didn’t provide the detailed financial plans he had expected and called on officers to return to the panel with the updated figures in February.

Conservative councillor Kenneth Bell had already tabled a motion at the panel, asking councillors to agree the report, saying that "we could go around in circles" and that the figures were the best they could get at the moment.

Cllr McGinley said he had "every sympathy" with officers, and suggested: "Maybe it has come too soon. It may have been sensible to wait a year to make this happen."

The panel voted strongly in favour of Cllr McGinley's amendment and officers have been told to bring their report to the panel.

It also agreed to approve the decision of the council's cabinet on the name of the show – which will be known as “The International Ayr Show – Festival of Flight” - and the charitable partnership with the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.