Coming as welcome news to aviation enthusiasts worldwide, the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) has announced that it will be returning its small fleet of vintage Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes to airshow flying duties in 2025. Both types powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines have been grounded by the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) division since May 2024, following an accident involving one of its Spitfires in which the pilot, Squadron Leader Mark Long was tragically killed.

Making the announcement via its social media channels on March 14, 2025, the RAF said that it would be resuming operations of all its aircraft again during the 2025 European air show display season. The BBMF unit, based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, Eastern England operates five Spitfires and two Hurricanes, alongside a single Lancaster bomber (one of only two airworthy examples worldwide) and a Douglas DC-3 Dakota transport aircraft. All fleet members are flown by crew drawn from active RAF squadrons.

Spitfire
Robert McAlpine / Shutterstock

While its Merlin-powered Avro Lancaster bomber was cleared to fly again in July 2024 following an initial investigation by the RAF into the Spitfire accident, the reintroduction of the Spitfires and Hurricanes was postponed while other internal investigations were completed.

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