AERIAL display team The Wings Of Portugal has been named as one of seven international acts due to appear at this year's Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford.

The Asas de Portugal, which translates as the Wings Of Portugal, was formed in 1977 on the orders of the then Portuguese Air Force Chief Of Staff.

He had been at the Cotswolds' airshow the year before and decided he wanted his air force to demonstrate its aerobatic skills at the following year's airshow.

The Asas de Portugal, operated by 103 Squadron of the Portuguese Air Force, has become Portugal's national acrobatic flying team, flying two Alphajets.

Tim Prince, the air tattoo's director and co-founder, said: "We were delighted when we heard the team was being formed especially so that it could take part in the air tattoo.

"It felt a great honour and demonstrated to us how valuable the air tattoo was becoming as a platform for international military aviation.

"Because of its history, we really consider the Asas de Portugal to be part of the family."

Joining them for the July 12-13 show will be the Patrouille de France; Escuadrilla de Alta Acrobacia Halcones' from Chile; the Esquadrilha da Fumaca, EDA from Brazil, the Turkish Stars, the Patrouille Suisse and the legendary RAF Red Arrows.

"Because the teams often fly different types of aircraft, each display demonstrates different piloting skills," said Mr Prince.

"Add to this the individual flair that different nationalities bring to their performances and we can look forward to a large helping of Mediterranean passion, South American flamboyance and European precision flying that will not be rivalled anywhere else in the world this year."

This summer's event will include official celebrations to mark the RAF's 90th anniversary.

For more information visit the website at www.airtattoo.com.