Called off the night before, with the organiser taking insolvency advice. Ticket holders are sent to their card providers. Here is what the rules allow.

The Hampshire Air Festival was called off on the eve of the event, and the company behind it says it is taking insolvency advice.

The festival was due to run at Thruxton Aerodrome on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September. Its campsite was due to open on the Friday. Instead, the whole website was replaced with a single page headed “Hampshire Air Festival 2026 Cancelled”. The Internet Archive captured that page at 11.59pm on Friday 11 September, and it is still the only page the site serves. (Hampshire Air Festival; Internet Archive capture, 11 September 2026)

The statement is signed by Montserrat Events & Festivals Limited, the company that held the licence for the event. It says four things:

  • the directors “have to announce the cancellation of the Hampshire Air Festival 2026”
  • “steps are being taken to put the business into liquidation with the Directors taking independent legal and insolvency advice”
  • ticket holders “should contact their debit or credit card provider directly” about recovering their payment
  • “suppliers and other stakeholders will be contacted with further information regarding the process and any relevant claims or enquiries”

No reason for the cancellation is given.

The ticket terms promised a refund from the organiser

Sending ticket holders to their banks is not what the festival’s own terms and conditions said would happen. Those terms were published on the festival website and archived on 30 July.

They set out a clear process for a cancellation:

  • the organisers “may offer Ticket Holders tickets to a substitute event, or Ticket Holders may instead opt to receive a refund”
  • where a substitute event is offered, buyers get “not less than 30 days from the date of notice of cancellation” to choose
  • “Refunds will be paid within 30 days beginning on the date on which you confirm to the Organisers you wish to receive a refund and provide your bank details”

The same section caps what the organiser owes. Its liability “shall be limited to providing tickets to a substitute event or providing a refund”, with “no further liability to any Ticket Holder in relation to any other costs or expenses, including without limitation, the costs of any travel, accommodation or other arrangements”. (Ticket and entry terms and conditions, archived 30 July 2026)

The cancellation statement offers neither a substitute event nor a refund. It points people at their card provider instead.

What the Hampshire Air Festival ticket terms promised on cancellation, against what the cancellation statement offers

It is not only day tickets

Three other groups paid the company in advance.

  • Campers. Pitches were sold for three nights, Friday to Monday: £65 for a tent pitch, £95 for a caravan or motorhome, and £220 for a “Premier” pitch with electric hook-up. Campers had to hold admission tickets for both days as a condition of booking. (Camping page, archived 30 July 2026)
  • Local sponsors. The festival sold a “Founding 200” package to businesses at £300 plus VAT, offering a listing as a Founding Supporter, a digital badge, screen presence at the event and discounted tickets. (Founding 200 page, archived 30 July 2026)
  • Traders and suppliers. The statement says they will be contacted about “any relevant claims or enquiries”.

The ticketing page is still live and still does not mention the cancellation. It reads “Sales Closed. Ticket sales for this event are now closed. We hope to see you at another event soon.” (Ticketflex)

What the register shows today

Montserrat Events & Festivals Limited was incorporated on 2 December 2025 and has its registered office at Kintyre House, 70 High Street, Fareham. Its company number is 16886670.

As of 18 September the company’s status on the Companies House register is still “Active”. No liquidation or insolvency document has been filed. The most recent filing is a confirmation statement made on 25 December 2025. (Companies House, company 16886670; filing history)

A search of The Gazette, where insolvency appointments must be advertised, returns no insolvency notice naming the company. (The Gazette insolvency notices)

So the statement describes an intention. Nothing has yet been registered.

The licence was granted 16 days before the cancellation

Test Valley Borough Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee granted the festival a new premises licence on 26 August, after a first application in March had to be resubmitted because it was not advertised properly. Twenty-six residents objected. The licence came with 30 conditions, including a cap of 14,999 people on site.

Two details in that decision now read differently.

Condition 13 was written for the long term. It says the licence “authorises licensable activities for the Hampshire Air Festival on One Friday, Saturday and Sunday to run concurrently in September each calendar year”. The committee expressly declined to limit it to a single year.

Condition 14b had to bend to fit 2026. The final Event Management Plan is normally due 28 days before an event. “For the Hampshire Air Festival this year (2026) only”, the decision says, it had to be submitted “at least 7 days before the event, due to the timing of the grant of this Licence”. (Printed decisions, Licensing Sub-Committee, 26 August 2026)

The licence itself is now in an odd position. Under section 27 of the Licensing Act 2003, a premises licence lapses if the holder becomes insolvent, and a company going into liquidation counts. Section 47 then allows an interim authority notice to be given within 28 days of the lapse, which reinstates the licence and transfers it to whoever gives the notice. (Licensing Act 2003, section 27; section 47)

In plain terms: if the company does go into liquidation, the permission for an annual September airshow at Thruxton does not simply pass to somebody else. It lapses, and somebody has 28 days to pick it up.

What we could not confirm

  • Thruxton. The circuit’s own website carries no statement about the cancellation that we could find, and its events pages do not list the festival. The circuit was not the organiser: both the licence application and the ticket terms name Montserrat Events & Festivals Limited.
  • The council. Test Valley Borough Council’s news feed has published nothing about the cancellation. (Test Valley news)
  • Thruxton Parish Council still carries its notice of 11 August telling residents the festival was going ahead. (Parish council news)

What it means for you

If you bought a ticket or a camping pitch, the organiser’s own instruction is to go to your debit or credit card provider. The Financial Ombudsman Service published guidance on exactly this situation in June: “If the festival organiser refuses to issue a refund due to cancellation, or has gone into administration, you can raise a claim through your card or finance provider.”

Two routes exist and they are not the same:

  • Chargeback “lets consumers challenge and try to recover payments made using a debit or credit card”. It has no upper or lower price limit, but card issuers set their own rules, including their own deadlines, so ask now rather than later.
  • Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes a credit card provider jointly liable, but only where the item itself cost more than £100 and no more than £30,000. The Ombudsman is blunt that this is the price of the purchase, not the total of an order. A basket of £45 tickets adding up to £209 did not qualify in a case it decided.

If your card provider turns you down, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at the decision. (Financial Ombudsman Service, 4 June 2026)

If you are a trader, supplier or Founding 200 sponsor, the statement says you will be contacted. Keep your invoices and correspondence. If a liquidator is appointed, the appointment has to be advertised in The Gazette and filed at Companies House, and that is where a claims process would be announced.

If you booked accommodation or travel, the ticket terms already said the organiser would not cover it, so that is a matter for the hotel, campsite or travel provider.

Andover News will follow the filings. We reported the licence hearing in August and the decision in September, and we will report what happens to the licence.

Sources

Our earlier coverage: the licensing hearing and the decision. For other Thruxton and Andover applications, see our planning news.