Steve Hitchen goes deep inside AMDA Foundation and finds an organisation with arms that stretch well beyond Avalon and embrace all aviation sectors including GA.
THIS IMAGE: GA aircraft lined up at Airshows Downunder, Shellharbour
OPPOSITE: Justin Giddings with Mark Bright at the hand-over announcement of Wings over Illawarra in 2023.
pon hearing the name AMDA Foundation, most Australian aviators will immediately couple it with the Australian International Airshow. No-one’s to blame for that; Avalon is the showpiece of the Australian aviation and defence communities and, as organiser, it gives AMDA a very high profile.
That profile is so high, and the association with Avalon so strong, that many people don’t realise that AMDA has influence in all sectors of aviation in
Australia both civil and military. Their reach extends beyond the perimeter road at Avalon and into all corners of the country from the Riverina district of NSW to the Gold Coast of Queensland and all taxiways in between.
But, AMDA Foundation has, over the years, failed to impress the general aviation community, with most GA people believing the organisation’s expertise and effort is directed more at military and heavy civil aviation.
Justin Giddings has a very different opinion on the matter.
Beginnings
Let’s go back. AMDA Foundation started in the 1980s when Schofields Aero Club in NSW needed money for a new aeroplane. A man named Ian Honnery ran a fundraising air show for them, and did it so well that the Federal Government handed him the job of organising the 1988 Bicentennial Airshow at Richmond. Another success.
The legacy that solidified from that show was the Aerospace Foundation of Australia, and at the behest of the Victorian Government, Honnery moved his organisation to Avalon Airport near Geelong and began the Australian International Airshow. From that grew AMDA Foundation, with defence and maritime being added over the years.
Today, it has a staff of 35 permanents, and a board of 12 that brings to the table expertise in military aviation, civil aviation, RAN, Army, logistics, management, and in Adrianne Fleming OAM, even general aviation.
The point is that AMDA Foundation began at an aero club and–despite its in-depth expertise in all areas of aviation–to a degree, its heart is still there.
Giddings is the CEO of AMDA Foundation, the former Avalon Airport boss took the reins when Honnery retired in 2022 after helming AMDA for over 30 years. Giddings knows how important the GA heritage is.
“We hear a lot about innovations with commercial and military aircraft,” he told Australian Flying, “but the general aviation and airsport sectors have been pioneers of new technologies in everything from materials to avionics, alternative fuels, licensing and construction.
“This is the sector of aviation that often provides the general public’s first connection with an aircraft, the first spark that leads someone to pursue aviation as a hobby or even as a career, so it is an important part of the future development of the Australian aviation community.
“So, we do have a GA base, which is important to understand where we came from. There is now a lot of technology and military aircraft at Avalon, but the backbone and why we are supporting GA so much is that that’s where AMDA came from.”
That has not been so apparent over the years, especially when it came to engaging GA at Avalon. Other than spectacular high-energy aerobatic sequences and the odd parachute drop, the flying display has not featured GA highly, and the best slots on the expo line reserved for commercial operations. The heart of GA–club land–has traditionally been allocated space in the dusty outfields where the public feared to tread.
Giddings is determined to turn that around.
“We made a big push for GA at Avalon in 2023 and added to that in 2025,” he explains. “We could
fill the air show with just military displays, but we don’t want that. Not all kids want to fly military jets; they want to be able to get into GA.
“We set up the GA area in 2023 with a main entrance going straight into that, and it worked really well. We couldn’t understand why we had five or six museums on site with a tent each, so we combined them into one [for 2025]. I’m really proud of that and the feedback was very positive.”
Unlike the commercial operators, the GA clubs, museums and associations aren’t charged for the space. AMDA understands most of these operations are shoestring and have little if any budget for promotion. As a not-for-profit foundation, AMDA has the luxury of not having to make every square metre of ground pay.
In fact, because AMDA springs for the tents, they lose money providing the facilities for GA.
“We put a lot of effort into the GA presence at Avalon 2025,” Giddings muses. “The museum was really well attended and the associations tent was really good. But being honest, it is a situation where you get out of it what you put into it. We provide the associations the space and tickets to the event free of charge, and we encourage them to bring their aircraft.
“I thought the GA pavilion was probably too large, but I understand the speakers were well received.”
Giddings and the board of AMDA are committed to GA even though the GA precinct
Aviation Industry
doesn’t even break even on the Avalon balance sheet. They see an opportunity that is worth fostering.
“GA adds to the diversity of the show, which is another reason why we want that presence.
“There were 7500 kids come in on the Friday and they were all running around looking at general aviation. GA has never had that level of exposure before, not even at Flyn for Fun. So Avalon presents GA with a great opportunity.”
Out of Avalon
wouldn’t be as good. The funds we give them are well used to run a really good event. And the RAAA and others that we sponsor; that money is pretty important for them.
“And things like the innovation awards, that’s good money. We give away $40,000 grants.
“We don’t feel responsible, but it would be a very difficult thing for me to go to the board and tell them we shouldn’t support something anymore. There’d have to be a very strong reason for that and I expect the board would question that.”
Airshows Downunder Shellharbour is a re-badging of Wings over Illawarra (WOI). AMDA Foundation took it over in 2023 after organiser Mark Bright found he could take the event no further. The new owners have some lofty ambitions for the show, and they do involve GA.
“For our first Airshow Downunder Shellharbour, we didn’t change much,” Giddings says.”That’s because we really didn’t know the show and didn’t want to have a safety issue.
“But for 2026, there will be some changes. Warwick Renton [General Manager Aviation Operations] is our GA person and he’ll be in charge of that show. He has a few changes that he wants to put in place to make the show bigger and attract more people. We want more variety of aircraft.”
OPPOSITE: After several years based at Avalon, AMDA recently relocated to more modern premises in Geelong.
While Giddings and the AMDA board don’t see revitalising GA as their responsibility, they recognise their potential to support it. With proven event expertise and unmatched industry connections, AMDA has extended its successful networking strategy beyond Avalon, backing events like RotorTech, Airshows Downunder Shellharbour, Flyn for Fun, and the RAAA convention.
“GA is responsible for its own destiny, but we support it the best way we can,” Giddings stresses.
“For example, if we didn’t sponsor Flyn for Fun, it certainly
Being seen as Sydney’s air show, the Australian Defence Force used WOI in the past as an opportunity to showcase themselves, giving rise to an opinion that Airshows Downunder is not for GA, despite space being reserved for aviation exhibitors.
“If the GA community is not seeing Airshows Downunder Shellharbour as a GA show, then that’s a sentiment we want to change,” Giddings states. “A big defence presence there is not what we want; Avalon is the big defence event and we don’t want to detract from that.
“We want to have a show at Shellharbour every second year and make it the second biggest that we do. It has huge potential.”
TOP TO BOTTOM:
RAAus’ Flyn for Fun is sponsored and supported by AMDA Foundation.
RotorTech became too large for AHIA to handle, so AMDA stepped in, running the expo on behalf of the rotary aviation industry.
Justin Giddings fronts the media at Avalon 2025.
Conventional thinking
AMDA sees strong potential in RotorTech, Australia’s growing rotorcraft expo now also covering uncrewed systems and eVTOLs. Originally launched by Rob Rich for AHIA, it outgrew the association, which handed it to AMDA to focus on the conference. Though expanding, RotorTech generates no profit for
“Our people did a great job supporting AHIA at RotorTech, and that’s genuine support for the industry.
“RotorTech turns over money, but it doesn’t make any for AMDA. Funds flow back to the industry, and we cover costs, but the agreement is structured so that it supports the industry and not AMDA.”
General aviation identity Julian Frazer is CEO of AHIA, and
get an event up and running, I have a greater appreciation of how well AMDA manages it. Also, we’ve been able to run our conference program at RotorTech without charging attendance fees because AMDA runs the expo side of it and the exhibitors subsidise the conferences.
“The AHIA board is very ambitious about the future of RotorTech, and we have aspirations to make it the leading rotary-wing event in the Southern Hemisphere. We believe the future for RotorTech is very bright and strong.”
Similarly, AMDA signed a partnership agreement to organise and manage the RAAA Convention along similar lines to RotorTech: AMDA does management, freeing up the RAAA to concentrate on the conference program. As the conventions are run in non-Avalon years, AMDA staff have more energy and brain space to devote to other things.
Like RotorTech, AMDA’s key strategy at RAAA is to promote industry health through networking.
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Aviation Industry
“The opportunity for the RAAA membership to be involved, to meet and network is highly valuable,” says RAAA CEO Rob Walker. “The RAAA has seen a good level of proactive engagement, new members and industry engagement with our member organisations and suppliers through the AMDA events.
“From the RAAA’s perspective we would hope the ongoing support that AMDA provides to our association and the industry more broadly continues. Justin Giddings and his team are passionate about their role and the professional contribution they make.
“From its humble beginning with
the Schofields Airshows, AMDA has grown into a well-regarded and internationally recognised champion of the Australian aviation and aerospace industry.
“More recent initiatives like their AMDA Connects and Endeavour Scholarship will also contribute further in attracting young people into the Australian aerospace industry and GA will also ultimately be a beneficiary of that.”
For the fun of it
GA in Australia has struggled for many years to inaugurate a successful national fly-in. There have been many starts–Natfly, OzKosh, Ausfly–but despite the
best efforts of volunteers, growth has been a struggle. Of these three, only Ausfly persists.
Knowing this, AMDA Foundation threw their hat into the ring with the RAAusorganised Flyn for Fun at Parkes, a recreational event that hopes to entice aviators from all sectors. Although AMDA’s involvement is limited to financial support, they don’t stay completely at arm’s length.
“Flyn for Fun is different,” Giddings points out. “We don’t organise it; we just sponsor it, [but] we have a whole team here that can help out if they need it.
“It’s never going to be Oshkosh and we really don’t want it to be that way. The idea of flying in and congregating is the same, but we might get 100 aircraft, whereas they get 10,000. Oshkosh is an air show with lots of exhibitors on the ground, and Australia just doesn’t have the industry to support that.”
Set in the space behind the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) building at Parkes, the first shows had good support from exhibitors and speakers, but given most national fly-ins in Australia have suffered from either misplaced
parochialism or general apathy, why would AMDA pour money into an event that is at risk of a similar fate?
“One of the things that will help grow Flyn for Fun is giving it certainty,” Giddings responds. “It’s not our ambition to grow the event; that’s for RAAus to do. Our role is to support it. Maybe AMDA could do some more branding and advertising for Flyn for Fun. But realistically, we’re not going to turn it into something that attracts 1000 aircraft, and the local council in Parkes probably wouldn’t want that either. Certainly it can be improved ... anything can be improved.”
The wrap
Despite all of these aviation events carrying the AMDA fingerprints, the organisation doesn’t see itself as purely an events company. Giddings is very quick to pour cold water on that perception, stressing that the foundation can help GA in many other ways.
“AMDA is not only an events company; we’re an organisation that is designed to facilitate a lot of things,” he stresses. “One of the things we do is take Australian industry to the world, by bringing the world to Australia.
“With GA companies, we can help them win grants and so forth, but we can’t give them money; we couldn’t do that with everyone. We’d be happy to sit down and work out how to help promote them around the world, but we don’t build aircraft and we don’t sell them.
“I think it’s important that the aviation community doesn’t see us as just a massive conglomerate that goes around organising air shows and events. They’re a large part of what we do, but there is a purpose underlying it. Ultimately, to inspire people about aviation, they have to see the end product and that’s what air shows are about. Aviation needs us to be strong, especially in Australia when we are so far from anywhere else. I would encourage anyone to reach out to us.”
RIGHT: Adrianne Fleming brings GA experience and passion to the AMDA board.
BELOW: AMDA’s showpiece, the Australian International Airshow will remain the primary defence air show on the foundation’s books.
