St Mary's Airport or Isles of Scilly Airport is an airport located east of

Hugh Town Hugh Town ( or ) is the largest settlement on the Isles of Scilly and its administrative centre. The town is situated on the island of St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, St Mary's, the largest and most populous island in the archipelago, and is located ...

on St Mary's in the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

, to the south west of

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, UK. It is the only fixed-wing airport serving the Isles of Scilly, handling most air traffic to and from the Islands. (There is a heliport on the island of Tresco.) The airport is owned by the

Duchy of Cornwall A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

and currently is operated by the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

History

On 15 September 1937, Olley Air Service's subsidiary Channel Air Ferries started the first scheduled service between

Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

and St Mary's, flying de Havilland Dragons. Initially, however, the planes landed on the St Mary's golf course. St Mary's Airport was first opened in August 1939, after being converted from High Cross Farm. In 1938, Great Western and Southern Airlines took over Olley Air Service and Channel Air Ferries. It continued the service throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during which it replaced the Dragons with

de Havilland Dragon Rapide The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its outd ...

s. On 1 February 1947 this operation was taken over by British European Airways (BEA). In August 1949 a

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...

and a passenger waiting room were completed at St Mary's. On 2 May 1964, BEA replaced its Dragon Rapides on the Land's End route with a single Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, operated by BEA Helicopters. From 1 September 1964 the route was to the new Penzance Heliport. BEA Helicopters later became British Airways Helicopters, and subsequently British International Helicopters. A second helicopter was eventually added to the service in the summers. Mayflower Air Services started services to the airport in 1961; this operation was taken over by Scillonian Air Services in 1963, itself taken over by British Westpoint Airlines in 1964. Scillonia Airways operated services to the airport from 1966 to 1970. Westward Airways, not to be confused with Westward Airways (Lands End), operated services from 1967 to 1970.

Brymon Airways Brymon Airways was a British airline with its head office in the Brymon House on the property of Plymouth City Airport in Plymouth, Devon."World Airline Directory." ''Flight International''. 24–30 March 199961 "Brymon House, Plymouth City Ai ...

operated services from June 1972 to March 1991, initially with

Britten-Norman Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial airc ...

aircraft, and two years later,

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking ...

s. In 1975, a new terminal was opened by the then Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

. In 1984, Isles of Scilly Skybus started flights to St Mary's from Land's End, initially freight and

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

. Scheduled services started on 1 April 1987, flying Islanders and, later, Twin Otters. The current asphalt runway, 15/33, was built in 1991. After being in operation for 48 years, the helicopter service between St Mary's and the mainland UK ceased operations in October 2012, leaving Skybus as the sole remaining air link for the Isles of Scilly. A helicopter service operated between Land's End Airport and St. Mary's in summer 2018. In May 2013, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company and the Council of the Isles of Scilly submitted a joint bid for finance from the

European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...

for improvements to the terminal, new lighting and navigational systems and runway resurfacing, together with runway resurfacing at Land's End Airport. In May 2014, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

gave its approval. The upgrades at St Mary's are expected to cost £6.5million.

Facilities

The terminal at the airport is open all year round whilst the airport is in operation. It has a buffet, toilets, as well as access to wheelchairs upon request. The airport is used as a landing area for some emergency services such as the HM Coastguard Search and Rescue Aircraft (based out of Newquay Airport) and the Cornwall Air Ambulance, as well as being the administrative base for the Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service. A public footpath passes within a few metres of the southern end of the runway; it is closed by warning lights and bells a few minutes before a take-off or landing is due.

Airlines and destinations

As of July 2020, St Mary's Airport has regular service to the following destinations:

Statistics

Passengers and aircraft movements

Routes

Incidents and accidents

*On 16 July 1983, a British Airways Helicopters passenger helicopter, on a scheduled flight from Penzance Heliport, crashed into the sea short of St Mary's Airport. Nineteen passengers and one crew member were killed; six survivors (four passengers and two crew) were picked up by the St Mary's Lifeboat.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Airport Airports in Cornwall Buildings and structures in the Isles of Scilly Transport in the Isles of Scilly St Mary's, Isles of Scilly