Stornoway Airport is an airfield located east of the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, 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 ...

. The airfield was opened in 1937, and was then used mainly for military purposes. The

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 ...

had an air base (

RAF Stornoway Royal Air Force Station Stornoway or more simply RAF Stornoway is a former Royal Air Force station near the burgh of Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, in the Western Isles of Scotland. No. 112 Signals Unit Stornoway was also part of the RAF's ...

) there during the Second World War and also from 1972 until 1998, when it was a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

forward operating base. During the Cold War, from 1960 to 1983, the airfield was the home of

112 Signals Unit Stornoway 112 Signals Unit, RAF Stornoway (112 S.U.) was a classified Royal Air Force (RAF) Electronic countermeasures (ECM) measurement and evaluation unit based at Stornoway Airport on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.Document AIR 14/4317 ''1974 ...

(RAF). NATO aircraft used the airport for missions over the North Atlantic and for stopovers en route to

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Stornoway Airport is owned by HIAL, a company controlled by the Scottish Government. Nowadays the airfield is mainly used for domestic passenger services. The Royal Mail have a daily mail flight. Bristow Helicopters operate helicopters equipped for search and rescue, on behalf of

His Majesty's Coastguard His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the ...

. There are privately owned light aircraft based at the airport.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Accident and incidents

* On 8 December 1983, a Cessna Citation I (''G-UESS'') crashed into the sea on approach to Stornoway Airport, killing all 10 passengers and crew.

References

External links

Stornoway Airport - Official website
{{authority control 1937 establishments in Scotland Airports in Scotland Highlands and Islands Airports Transport in the Outer Hebrides Airports established in 1937