Stornoway Airport

History of Stornoway Airport

Captain E E Fresson pioneered air services to Stornoway on 8 March 1934 using a De Havilland Dragon.

1937 Civil Aerodrome opens.

1941 On 1 April 1941 Stornoway Airport came under RAF Coastal Command for anti-submarine and anti-shipping operations.

1943 Stornoway Airport was an important staging post for Allied aircraft crossing the Atlantic. Stornoway is still Europe’s closest point to Iceland and older and short-range aircraft regularly stage through to/from Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland and the USA.

1986-1993 Stornoway was an important NATO Forward Operating Base for Air Defence aircraft protecting the fleet. The military activated Stornoway Airport 3 fortnights per year and took over all aircraft operations. The Royal Navy involvement continues with Stornoway Airport supporting Joint Maritime Courses three times per year.

Today, Stornoway Airport continues to support lifeline air services to the Western Isles. As well as the twice daily British Regional Airlines ATP service to Glasgow, the Loganair Saab 340 twice daily service to Inverness and Edinburgh and the Shorts 360 twice daily service to Benbecula (with connections to Barra), Stornoway Airport also supports daily Royal mail and newspaper flights. Other airport users include the Fisheries Protection aircraft, charters involved in oil exploration in the Atlantic frontier, the Northern Lighthouse Board helicopter and delivery flights to and from the USA. Perhaps Stornoway Airport's most important functions are supporting the Scottish Air Ambulance Service (with an average of 400 Air Ambulances per year) and the Bristows Coastguard Search and Rescue S61 helicopter (with an average 150 SAR sorties per year).

About Stornoway Airport

Stornoway Airport provides a key access point to the Western Isles through Inverness and Glasgow, and inter-island services to Benbecula and Barra. Located on the east coast of Lewis, a few miles from Stornoway, the airport also serves as a base for the search and rescue helicopter operated by HM Coastguard. Air traffic control at Stornoway provides important support services to aircraft flying to and from North America over Iceland. An increasing element of airport business is support services for oil exploration and development in the North Atlantic. The Ministry of Defence recently announced the closure of the RAF base at Stornoway. Aircraft operations are supported by an Air Traffic Control service while on call services to air ambulance and search and rescue flights are assisted by a Flight Information Service Officer. An Airport Fire Service is provided on the basis of a Rescue and Fire Fighting Service category 4 airport as detailed in Civil Aviation Publication 168.
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Airport Information

Flights
The following destinations are served by scheduled flights from this airport. Contact the airline directly for timetable and fare information.

Helicopter and Charter Flights

Helicopter Charter

Local Transport Information

Hours of Operation

Refueling Services

HIAL Ltd.,
Head Office,
Inverness Airport,
Inverness
IV2 7JB

http://www.hial.co.uk