Sumburgh Airport

Sumburgh Airport
Sumburgh Airport
IATA: LSI – ICAO: 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
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) as well as sometimes seasonally by Atlantic Airways.

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

Other tenants

• Maritime and Coastguard Agency (Her Majesty's Coastguard)
• Bristow Helicopters
• Bond Helicopters (Private SAR for BP)

Statistics

Busiest routes to and from Sumburgh Airport (2012)

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% Change 2011 / 12
1	- Aberdeen Airport	75,203	9
2	- Edinburgh Airport	36,914	4
3	- Glasgow Airport	17,964	nm
4	- Kirkwall Airport	7,935	12
5	- Inverness Airport	4,244	188
6	- Bergen Airport	1,628	31
7	- Copenhagen Airport	140	nm
8	- Fair Isle Airport	103	3
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority

Incidents and accidents

• 31 July 1979: Crash of Dan-Air Flight 0034, a Hawker Siddeley 748 series 1 (registration G-BEKF) operating an oil industry support flight. The aircraft failed to become airborne and crashed into the sea. The accident was due to the elevator gust-lock having become re-engaged, preventing the aircraft from rotating into a flying attitude. The aircraft was destroyed and 17 persons died.
• 6 November 1986: British International Helicopters Chinook crash. A Boeing 234LR Chinook helicopter crashed 2.5 mi (4.0 km) east of the airport. Only two people survived with 45 lives being lost.
• 29 March 1981: Potez 840 F-BMCY operated by Club Aéronautique de Paris made a wheels-up landing at Sumburgh. Damage was minimal and the aircraft was parked on a stand for many months. The four Astazou engines and other useful parts were removed and the airframe dragged off to a quiet corner of the airfield to be abandoned. When the runway was extended it was saved and now resides in a private garden in North Roe in the north of Shetland. Only 8 Potez 840s were built.
• 11 June 2006 UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch recommended a safety audit of City Star Airlines after a serious incident in which a Dornier 328 crew flew close to cliffs and failed to respond correctly to terrain warnings on approach to Sumburgh Airport after a flight from Aberdeen. The aircraft landed safely. The captain involved was suspended and asked to resign after an investigation.^[4]
• 23 August 2013: A Super Puma L2, operated by CHC for Total, carrying 16 passengers and 2 crew from the Borgsten Dolphin oil platform, crashed about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the airport at 18:17 BST. The cause remains under investigation. Four of those aboard were killed.^[5]

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sumburgh Airport.

• Sumburgh Airport - Official website
• Illustrated entry in Shetlopedia
• Photographs of aircraft at Sumburgh Airport
• Information on World War II aircraft that crashed in and around Shetland

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