People in Iqaluit will soon be able to get a close look at more than a dozen airplanes at the city's first international air show, which begins Aug. 22.

Seventeen different planes will be on a ground display, including First Air's brand-new Boeing 767-200 freighter and planes from local airlines, as well as five different Canadian Forces aircraft.

There will also be a fly-past and other aerial shows, event co-chair Eric Leuthold said in an interview.

"Besides the fly-by of the F-18s, we're going to have the SkyHawks paratrooper team jumping down onto the tarmac, where we're all going to be standing around watching," Lethold said.

"That's going to be pretty thrilling, to be looking from the ground trying to spot the parachutes as they pop open."

A shuttle service will be made available between Nakasuk School and the airport. Gates to the north apron will open to the public at 10 a.m. ET and close at 4 p.m.

The air show will coincide with the Canadian Forces community day, part of the Operation Nanook military exercise currently underway in the eastern Arctic.

The event will also celebrate the centennial anniversary of the first powered flight in Canada.