Islay Airport
Islay Airport Port-adhair Ìle | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
Owner/Operator | HIAL | ||||||||||||||
Serves | Islay | ||||||||||||||
Location | Islay, Argyll and Bute | ||||||||||||||
Opened | May 1, 1933 | ||||||||||||||
ElevationAMSL | 56 ft / 17 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 55°41′00″N006°15′35″W/ 55.68333°N 6.25972°W | ||||||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||||||
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Islay Airport(IATA:ILY,ICAO:EGPI) (also known asGlenegedale Airport) (Scottish Gaelic:Port-adhair Ìle) is located 4.5nautical miles(8.3 kilometres; 5.2 statute miles) north-northwest ofPort Ellen[1]on the island ofIslayinArgyll and Bute,off the west coast of Scotland. It is a small ruralairportowned and maintained byHighlands and Islands Airports Limited.Today the airport is used for scheduled services to the Scottish mainland, and forair ambulances.
History
[edit]The aerodrome was opened in May 1933, and initially services were provided from Glasgow via Campbeltown by the Midland and Scottish Air Ferries company. However, this was short-lived as the company closed down in late 1934.[3]Services were taken over by a new company,Northern & Scottish Airwayswho operated a De Havilland Dragon aircraft three times per week from Glasgow.[4]In 1937, the company amalgamated with Highland Airways and formedScottish Airways,who operated daily flights from Glasgow to Islay on Monday to Saturday. This service continued with minor disruptions for urgent military duties for the duration of the Second World War.[5]
In 1940, during theSecond World War,thePrime Minister,Winston Churchill,ordered military airfields to be constructed in the western islands of Scotland, both to defend against aGermanassault on the Scottish mainland and also to providereconnaissance planesa base to fly missions over the Atlantic Ocean. The present Islay airport was constructed as RAF Port Ellen in 1940, and received a concrete runway in 1942. During the Second World War, over 1,500Royal Air Force(RAF) personnel were stationed at RAF Port Ellen.[6]
The following units were here at some point:[7]
- Relief Landing Ground forNo. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF(August 1941)[8]
- No. 48 Squadron RAF
- No. 304 Ferry Training Unit RAF(December 1942 – December 1943)[9]
- 878 Naval Air Squadron
- 890 Naval Air Squadron
On 1 February 1947, Scottish Airways Ltd and its subsidiary company Western Isles Airways Ltd was taken over byBritish European Airways Corporationas part of the nationalisation of transport services under the Civil Aviation Act of 1946.[10]In 1948, a question was raised in the House of Commons in relation to the number of staff (17) currently employed.[11]
On 28 September 1957,de Havilland Heron 1BG-AOFY, while operating a flight for the Scottish Air Ambulance Service, crashed on approach to Islay, in bad weather. The three occupants, Captain T.M. Calderwood, radio officer Hugh McGinlay, and Sister Jane Kennedy from Glasgow's Southern General Hospital were killed.[12]One of the remaining two Herons was namedSister Jean Kennedyafter the nurse; the other afterJames Young Simpson,a Scottish pioneer in anaesthetics.[13]This was the first crash in the history of the Scottish Air Ambulance Service.
On 29 June 1994, thePrince of Walesmade headlines when he overshot the runway while landing aBAe 146ofNo. 32 (The Royal) Squadronof the RAF on the runway of the airport. Although no one was injured, the plane was badly damaged.[14][15]
Airlines and destinations
[edit]Airlines | Destinations |
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Hebridean Air Services | Charter:Colonsay,Obana |
Loganair | Glasgow |
- Notes
Statistics
[edit]![]() | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info onPhabricatorand onMediaWiki.org. |
Rank | Airport | Passengers handled | 2021-22 Change |
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1 | Glasgow | 25,849 | ![]() |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^abIslay – EGPI
- ^"Annual airport data 2022 | Civil Aviation Authority".
- ^"Air Services to Islay and Campbeltown".The Scotsman.Scotland. 17 September 1934.Retrieved24 February2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^"New Scots Air Co. Glasgow, Kintyre and Islay Service to be reopened".The Scotsman.Scotland. 27 November 1934.Retrieved24 February2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^"War Service".Daily Record.Scotland. 7 November 1945.Retrieved24 February2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^Shaw, Robbie (January–February 2015). "Serving the Southern Hebrides".Airports of the World.No. 57. Key Publishing Ltd. pp. 80–83.
- ^"Port Ellen (Glenegedale) (Islay)".Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust.Retrieved14 September2022.
- ^Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997,p. 233.
- ^Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997,p. 116.
- ^"B.E.A.C. takes over today".The Scotsman.Scotland. 1 February 1947.Retrieved24 February2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^"Commons Questions. Islay Aerodrome" Shocking Waste of Personnel "".The Scotsman.Scotland. 22 January 1948.Retrieved24 February2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^"Three die in 'flying lifeboat'".The People.Scotland. 29 September 1957.Retrieved25 February2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^"ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland DH-114 Heron 1B G-AOFY Islay-Glenegedale (ILY)".Aviation Safety Network. 28 September 1957.Archivedfrom the original on 6 June 2011.Retrieved30 May2010.
- ^Prince gives up flying royal aircraft
- ^Official report[archive.org]
- ^"Airport data 2022 | UK Civil Aviation Authority".
Bibliography
[edit]- Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997).Royal Air Force flying training and support units.UK: Air-Britain (Historians).ISBN0-85130-252-1.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official websitefor Islay Airport