The financial implications of cancelling this weekend's Wings Over Illawarra could prove too costly for the air show to go on next year.

Organisers have vowed they want the event in 2016 to be bigger and better, but don't know the extent of the damage and are currently in talks with insurers.

Severe downpours this week rendered the airfield unusable and unsafe, while wild weather in other parts of the country stopped several publicised aircraft getting to the Albion Park air strip.

"We're just going to let the dust settle and see where we stand. Obviously, we anticipate some financial implications but we're keen to go ahead, third time lucky," said Mark Bright who organised the event with wife Kerry.

"There's a lot of issues we have to look at, and how we'll fare - but to be honest I don't know. We're both a bit under the weather, and a bit concerned about it ... it's been a lot of work and effort that's gone in to it, and to make that call [to cancel] was very hard."

The 2014 event was marred by 100km/h westerly winds, forcing patrons to leave in droves, and grounding all but three aircraft, which were powerful enough to contend with the weather.

Mr Bright said the event could not easily be moved to another date as approvals from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority were sought months in advance, while requests for Defence Force aircraft were made two years in advance.

"We can't seem to win. In a word, devastated I guess. [My wife] Kerry and I agonised over the decision ... The stall holder tents that have been in place for two or three days still have an inch of water in them, nothing's drying out," he said.

"Rather than run the risk of ruining the reputation of a great show, we needed to cancel and try again next time. Unfortunately, two years in a row the weather hasn't played nicely."

Mr Bright said the focus would eventually turn to the planning of another show, but for the moment they just "have to get through this first" with grave concerns for the financial hole it will leave.

The NSW government had expected the festival to reap major economic and tourism rewards, bringing in 11,000 visitors to the region with an estimated $1.7 million injected into the economy.

Shellharbour Mayor Marianne Saliba said the cancellation would definitely affect the region, but said it might not be the death sentence for the event.

"I'm sure it must have quite a negative impact on them [Mr and Mrs Bright]. As far as tourism is concerned, it certainly will slow things down," she said.

"It will have an impact on the region economically, but there are other communities that are suffering much greater than we are with the amount of rain that's been had."

Social media has been abuzz with news of the cancellation with some calling for the date to be changed to a "drier" part of the year, some voicing their disappointment, and many offering their sympathy to the organisers.

There is good news for aviation enthusiasts with the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society remaining open despite the cancellation of the Wings Over the Illawarra Air Show.

HARS spokesperson Mike Delahunty said the canning of the show has been a ‘‘disaster’’ and ‘‘very disappointing’’.

However rain won’t bother the society which has 13,000 square metres of hangar roofing, and several planes to keep people under cover, such as a 747, F1-11 and Mirage fighter jets, Catalina Flying Boat, Neptune and an ex-military Dakota aircraft.

‘‘We’ve been planning for [the air show] for several months,’’ said Mr Delahunty. ‘‘We think there’s a lot of people who have come to visit the Illawarra with accommodation booked out, so we want to stay open.’’

For more information go to http://hars.org.au/