The Toronto Air Show returned to the CNE for its 70th Anniversary and this year they invited a selection of aerial performances that represented all seven decades of their history.

The standout performance this year came from their international guests the RAF Red Arrows from Great Britain, a world-renowned demo team flying nine brilliantly red coloured Hawk T1s. This is the first time the Red Arrows have appeared at the Air Show since 2002.

Similar in style and presentation to Canada’s own Snowbirds, the Red Arrows set themselves apart in their use of multi-coloured smoke trails that really stood out.

Their support plane, a massive Airbus A400-M Atlas - an aircraft which some might recall made a memorable appearance in the film Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation - made a single lumbering pass of the showline and then departed.

The Snowbirds soaring above #Toronto is absolutely breathtaking - 📹 British High Commission, Ottawa https://t.co/qPaLSbGfow pic.twitter.com/JTyH6wG9Sc

— blogTO (@blogTO) September 1, 2019

The Toronto Air Show struggled this year to assemble a selection of more aggressive military jets, the demo teams for which were elsewhere on what has become a fairly crowded air show weekend in North America.

This year they hosted fly-bys from a CF-18 from Quebec and a pair of A-10 Thunderbolts from Indiana. No doubt the limited displays of warplanes pleased the air show’s critics, who often complain about noise and psychological trauma from the Air Show each year.

Two stunt planes were on offer as well - Brett Handy in a Pitts Special bi-plane and a return performance by Gord Price in his Russian Built Yak-50 Prototype.

A search-and-rescue demonstration by an RCAF Griffon team as well as a brand new RCAF CH-148 Cyclone provided the helicopter portion of the show. A Beech-18 Expeditor and a MiG 15 from Hamilton and Waterloo’s warplane collections rounded out the selection.

Check out some of the sights from the 2019 Toronto Air Show in this photo gallery.