Scatsta Airport , was a commercial airport on the island of
Mainland
Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
,
Shetland in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
located north of
Lerwick and southwest of
Sullom Voe Terminal
The Sullom Voe Terminal is an oil and gas terminal at Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. It handles production from oilfields in the North Sea and East Shetland Basin and stores oil before it is transported by tanker.
Constructio ...
.
It is owned by
Shetland Island's Council and was operated by
Serco on behalf of the aerodrome licensee
BP (Exploration).
Scatsta Airport fully closed to all operations on 30 June 2020.
History
The airport was first developed in 1940 as RAF Scatsta, a
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
fighter plane base to support
Coastal Command
RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...
flying boat operations at
RAF Sullom Voe
Royal Air Force Sullom Voe or more simply RAF Sullom Voe is a former Royal Air Force station near the village of Brae, in the Shetland Isles of Scotland. It was a Flying boat base and was closely associated with the adjacent airfield of RAF ...
, and was the most northerly base in the British Isles.
Construction started in Spring 1940, of two runways. One was long on a heading of 130 degrees and the other was long on a heading of 250 degrees. The first runway was completed in April 1941. The main contractor for the construction of the aerodrome was the
Zetland County Council.
In November 1944 Scatsta was used as a support base and diversion point for Lancasters from squadron 617, the famous "Dam Busters", led by Wing Commander J. B. Tait, on
Operation Catechism
Operation Catechism was a British air raid of World War II that destroyed the German battleship ''Tirpitz''. It was conducted on 12 November 1944 by 29 Royal Air Force heavy bombers that attacked the battleship at its anchorage near the Norwegia ...
, which bombed and sank the ''Tirpitz'' near Håkøy Island, Tromsø.
After World War II Scatsta Aerodrome lay dormant except for the landing of a US Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules on 24 May 1969, in connection with the LORAN navigation station which had been established at the north west end of runway 13/31.
It was abandoned after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, but reinstated as a civilian airport in 1978 to support the Shetland oil industry, and the Sullom Voe oil terminal in particular.
In 2008
Bristow Bristow, or Bristowe, can refer to the following.
People
* Bristow (surname)
* W.S. Bristowe (1901–1979), English naturalist
Places
;In the United States
* Bristow, Indiana
* Bristow, Iowa
* Bristow, Mississippi
* Bristow, Missouri
* Bristow ...
Helicopters won an integrated contract to provide five major oil and gas companies with logistics via fixed-wing flights from Scatsta and onward helicopter flights to various platforms, rigs and ships around the northern North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
The airport had received significant upgrades to allow for commercial operations, of note two hangars (one 80m x 41m built in 2010 and one 47m x 31m refurbished in 2011) provided space for up to 10 large helicopters, the passenger terminal was refurbished in 2012 with a new control tower added and there is a fire station with three vehicle bays.
By August 2018 Scatsta was the sixth largest airport in Scotland, ranked by international passengers. This classification may have been on the basis of helicopter flights to and from oil rigs in the Norwegian and/or Faroes sectors of the North Atlantic/
North Sea oil
North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea.
In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea ...
region, or some classification of flights to foreign-registered (though UK-crewed and serviced) oil rigs as being "foreign" destinations. The only fixed wing route operating regularly from Scatsta was a shuttle to and from
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, to ferry offshore crew to Scatsta for onward travel via helicopter to oil rigs, and also mainland workers at the Sullom Voe Terminal commonly working either a 2-week on/off shift or 10 days on 4 days off rota.
Closure
On 4 March 2020, the integrated contract was awarded to
Babcock MCS who intended to use
Sumburgh Airport in the south of Shetland.
With the loss of this contract Scatsta airport announced that it would be closing in the summer of 2020 with a loss of 65 jobs.
Shetland Council are now seeking alternative uses for the airfield infrastructure.
Statistics
See also
*
List of airports in the United Kingdom
*
List of Royal Air Force stations
The Royal Air Force (RAF) operates several stations throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This includes front-line and training air bases, support, administrative and training stations with no flying activity, unmanned airfields used fo ...
*
List of former Royal Air Force stations
This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force.
The stations are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the du ...
References
{{Airports in the United Kingdom
Defunct airports in Scotland
Airports in Shetland
1940 establishments in Scotland
Airports established in 1940
Mainland, Shetland
Airports disestablished in 2020
2020 disestablishments in Scotland