In this paper, we present an experimental study on the anemometry characteristics of a bipolar corona discharge probe with symmetrically arranged parallel electrodes. The possibility of measuring a wide range of air flow rate/flow velocity has been demonstrated. The parallel pin probe simultaneously creates positive and negative corona discharge, decomposes air media at both electrodes while keeping them with charge balance ensured by the use of a single isolated power source. This feature is fundamentally different from other reported unipolar discharge configurations, where the decomposed gas and charge is created from single electrode. Under the existence of the air flow, the decomposed gas is redistributed towards the downstream electrode, and changes the current–voltage characteristics of the system. When the probe is in open space, the discharge current is reduced with increasing flow velocity. In constrained space the discharge current behaviour is similar at high flow rates above 25 l min−1, while at low flow rates this relation is reversed. In addition, the sensitivity of discharge current to change in air flow is much higher when the negative pin is placed downstream. Both open space and constrained space characteristics are explained in terms of the influence of external flow on the ozone distribution and its effect on the discharge current. This explanation is supported by ozone measurements, with the data showing good correlation between the discharge current and ozone concentration with respect to the external flow. The role of the electrode separation and discharge voltage is also investigated.