Despite the 2014 and 2015 Wings Over Illawarra Air Shows not proceeding due to bad weather, organisers The Rotary Clubs of the Illawarra and Bright Events will still hand out $20,000 in donations to 12 local charities and organisations.

Rotary Club of Wollongong president-elect Leigh Robinson said a special morning tea was being planned next Wednesday to do just that.

Mr Robinson said the local Rotary clubs would honour their commitment to the community at Centro CBD.

Wings Over Illawarra quickly took off after the first successful day-long event was staged at Illawarra Regional Airport in 2007 and this year it was planned over two days.

Rotary was heavily involved with helping Shellharbour City Council and the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) run the annual event, with the Rotary interest led by Professor Michael Hough, who is also heavily involved with HARS. Despite the weather problems of the past two years, the annual event has always been seen as an opportunity for the Illawarra to showcase itself to out-of-region visitors.

In 2011 a survey by Rotary volunteers manning gates at Illawarra Regional Airport revealed that 34 per cent of attendees were from Illawarra postcodes and 66 per cent were from outside the region.

This year's event was expected to attract more than 20,000 people.