Islay Airport

Islay Airport (IATA: ILY, ICAO: EGPI) (also known as Glenegedale Airport) (Scottish Gaelic: Port-adhair Ìle) is located 4.5 nautical miles (8.3 kilometres; 5.2 statute miles) north-northwest of Port Ellen^[1] on the island of Islay in Argyll and Bute, off the west coast of Scotland. It is a small rural airport owned and maintained by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. Today the airport is used for scheduled services to the Scottish mainland, and for air ambulances.

Islay Airport Port-adhair Ìle
IATA: ILY ICAO: EGPI
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	HIAL
Serves	Islay
Location	Islay, Argyll and Bute
Opened	May 1, 1933 (1933-05-01)
Elevation AMSL	56 ft / 17 m
Coordinates	55°41′00″N 006°15′35″W
Website	www.hial.co.uk/islay-airport
Map
EGPI Location in Scotland
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 12/30 1,545 5,069 Asphalt 07/25 635 2,083 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 26,268 Passenger change 21-22 102% Aircraft Movements 1,397 Movements change 21-22 11%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1] Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

History

The aerodrome was opened in May 1933, and initially services were provided from Glasgow via Campbeltown by the Midland and Scottish Air Ferries company. However, this was short-lived as the company closed down in late 1934.^[3] Services were taken over by a new company, Northern & Scottish Airways who operated a De Havilland Dragon aircraft three times per week from Glasgow.^[4] In 1937, the company amalgamated with Highland Airways and formed Scottish Airways, who operated daily flights from Glasgow to Islay on Monday to Saturday. This service continued with minor disruptions for urgent military duties for the duration of the Second World War.^[5]

In 1940, during the Second World War, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, ordered military airfields to be constructed in the western islands of Scotland, both to defend against a German assault on the Scottish mainland and also to provide reconnaissance planes a base to fly missions over the Atlantic Ocean. The present Islay airport was constructed as RAF Port Ellen in 1940, and received a concrete runway in 1942. During the Second World War, over 1,500 Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel were stationed at RAF Port Ellen.^[6]

The following units were here at some point:^[7]

• Relief Landing Ground for No. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (August 1941)^[8]
• No. 48 Squadron RAF
• No. 304 Ferry Training Unit RAF (December 1942 – December 1943)^[9]
• 878 Naval Air Squadron
• 890 Naval Air Squadron

On 1 February 1947, Scottish Airways Ltd and its subsidiary company Western Isles Airways Ltd was taken over by British European Airways Corporation as part of the nationalisation of transport services under the Civil Aviation Act of 1946.^[10] In 1948, a question was raised in the House of Commons in relation to the number of staff (17) currently employed.^[11]

On 28 September 1957, de Havilland Heron 1B G-AOFY, while operating a flight for the Scottish Air Ambulance Service, crashed on approach to Islay, in bad weather. The three occupants, Captain T.M. Calderwood, radio officer Hugh McGinlay, and Sister Jane Kennedy from Glasgow's Southern General Hospital were killed.^[12] One of the remaining two Herons was named Sister Jean Kennedy after the nurse; the other after James Young Simpson, a Scottish pioneer in anaesthetics.^[13] This was the first crash in the history of the Scottish Air Ambulance Service.

On 29 June 1994, the Prince of Wales made headlines when he overshot the runway while landing a BAe 146 of No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron of the RAF on the runway of the airport. Although no one was injured, the plane was badly damaged.^[14][15]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Hebridean Air Services	Charter: Colonsay, Obana
Loganair	Glasgow

Notes

• ^aFlight operates via Colonsay

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at ILY airport. See Wikidata query.

Busiest routes to and from Islay Airport in 2022^[16]

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	2021-22 Change
1	Glasgow	25,849	111.1%

See also

• RAF Kilchiaran

References

Citations

1. "Islay – EGPI". Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
2. "Annual airport data 2022 | Civil Aviation Authority".
3. "Air Services to Islay and Campbeltown". The Scotsman. Scotland. 17 September 1934. Retrieved 24 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "New Scots Air Co. Glasgow, Kintyre and Islay Service to be reopened". The Scotsman. Scotland. 27 November 1934. Retrieved 24 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "War Service". Daily Record. Scotland. 7 November 1945. Retrieved 24 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. Shaw, Robbie (January–February 2015). "Serving the Southern Hebrides". Airports of the World. No. 57. Key Publishing Ltd. pp. 80–83.
7. "Port Ellen (Glenegedale) (Islay)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
8. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 233.
9. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 116.
10. "B.E.A.C. takes over today". The Scotsman. Scotland. 1 February 1947. Retrieved 24 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Commons Questions. Islay Aerodrome "Shocking Waste of Personnel"". The Scotsman. Scotland. 22 January 1948. Retrieved 24 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
12. "Three die in 'flying lifeboat'". The People. Scotland. 29 September 1957. Retrieved 25 February 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
13. "ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland DH-114 Heron 1B G-AOFY Islay-Glenegedale (ILY)". Aviation Safety Network. 28 September 1957. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
14. Prince gives up flying royal aircraft
15. Official report [archive.org]
16. "Airport data 2022 | UK Civil Aviation Authority".

Bibliography

• Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.

External links

• Official website for Islay Airport