Sumburgh Airport

Sumburgh Airport
Sambarug Lukuhave

Sumburgh Airport
IATA: LSIICAO: EGPB
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL)
Serves Shetland
Location Sumburgh, Shetland, Scotland
Elevation AMSL 21 ft / 6 m
Coordinates 59°52′53″N 01°17′38″W / 59.88139°N 1.29389°W / 59.88139; -1.29389Coordinates: 59°52′53″N 01°17′38″W / 59.88139°N 1.29389°W / 59.88139; -1.29389
Website Sumburgh Airport
Map
EGPB

Location in Shetland

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 1,426 4,678 Asphalt
09/27 1,500 4,921 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface
m ft
06/24 550 1,804 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 270,158
Passenger Change 14-15 Increase2.1%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1]

Sumburgh Airport (IATA: LSI, ICAO: EGPB) is the main airport serving Shetland in Scotland. It is located on the southern tip of the mainland, 17 NM (31 km; 20 mi) south of Lerwick.[1] The airport is owned by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) and served by Loganair (under franchise to Flybe).

The airport is unusual in that it has a 550 m (1,804 ft) helicopter runway as opposed to usual helipad. The western end of runway 09 crosses the A970 road between Sumburgh and the northern mainland; access is controlled by a level crossing with barriers closed whenever a flight is taking off or landing.

On 1 April 1995, ownership of the Company transferred from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to the Secretary of State for Scotland and subsequently to the Scottish Ministers.

HIAL receives subsidies from the Scottish Ministers in accordance with Section 34 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and is sponsored by the Transport Directorate which is one of the Finance and Sustainable Growth Directorates of the Scottish Government. Annual Reports and Accounts are submitted to the Scottish Ministers.

History

Sumburgh Links was surveyed and the grass strips laid out by Capt. E. E. Fresson in 1936: the Airport was opened on 3 June of that year with the inaugural flight from Aberdeen (Kintore) by the De Havilland Dragon Rapide G-ACPN piloted by Fresson himself. It was also one of the first airfields to have RDF facilities due to the frequency of low cloud and fog coupled with the proximity of Sumburgh Head. The building of runways was at the instigation of Capt. Fresson who had proved to the Navy at Hatston (Orkney) that to maintain all round landing facilities over the winter months runways were essential. This was taken up by the RAF after the obvious success of the Hatston experiment.

The former RAF Sumburgh airfield had two runways, the longest being 800 yd (730 m), and the shorter running a length of 600 yd (550 m) from shore-line to shore-line. No. 404 Squadron operated Beaufighter Mark VI and X aircraft from this station on coastal raids against Axis shipping off the coast of Norway and in the North Sea.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Bergen Air Transport Bergen[2]
Directflight Seasonal: Fair Isle[3]
Flybe
operated by Loganair
Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Kirkwall
Seasonal: Bergen

Other tenants

Ground transport

The road distance is 25 miles (40 km) to Lerwick. There is a regular airport bus service that takes passengers there.

Statistics

Busiest routes to and from Sumburgh Airport (2012)
Rank Airport Passengers handled % Change
2011 / 12
1 United Kingdom - Aberdeen Airport75,203 Increase 9
2 United Kingdom - Edinburgh Airport36,914 Increase 4
3 United Kingdom - Glasgow Airport17,964 nm
4 United Kingdom - Kirkwall Airport7,935 Decrease 12
5 United Kingdom - Inverness Airport4,244 Increase 188
6 Norway - Bergen Airport1,628 Increase 31
7 Denmark - Copenhagen Airport140 nm
8 United Kingdom - Fair Isle Airport103 Increase 3
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority

Incidents and accidents

References

  1. 1 2 Sumburgh - EGPB
  2. http://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/245442/sumburgh-airport-welcomes-new-norwegian-link-/
  3. http://www.directflight.co.uk/shetland/summer-timetable/
  4. Flight International 20–26 March 2007
  5. "Shetland helicopter crash: Four dead named". BBC News. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2014.

External links

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