Aberdeen Airport
Encyclopedia : A : AB : ABE : Aberdeen Airport
{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 220px; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Aberdeen International Airport -->
|- !colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Runways |- !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Direction !bgcolor="lightgrey" colspan="2"|Length !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Surface |- !bgcolor="lightgrey"|ft !bgcolor="lightgrey"|m |- !align="left" valign="top"|H05/H23 |valign="top" align="right"|1,893 |valign="top" align="right"|577 |valign="top"|Concrete |- !align="left" valign="top"|H14/H32 |valign="top" align="right"|2,165 |valign="top" align="right"|660 |valign="top"|Asphalt |- !align="left" valign="top"|16/34 |valign="top" align="right"|6,001 |valign="top" align="right"|1,829 |valign="top"|Asphalt |- !align="left" valign="top"|H18/H36 |valign="top" align="right"|853 |valign="top" align="right"|260 |valign="top"|Asphalt
Aberdeen Airport is the third largest international airport in Scotland, and number 8 in the UK. The airport is located in Dyce, approximately 7 miles (11 km) north of Aberdeen city centre.
Aberdeen Airport is owned by BAA plc, the company that also owns London Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport, London Stansted Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Glasgow International Airport and Southampton Airport.
History
The airport opened in 1934, established by Eric Gandar Dower, intended to link the northern islands of Scotland with London. During World War II the airfield became an RAF base, and although fighters were based there through the Battle of Britain to provide protection from German bombing raids from Norway, it was mainly used as a photographic reconnaissance base. The airport was nationalised in 1947 and became part of the British Airports Authority (BAA). With the discovery of North Sea oil, helicopter operations began in 1967, linking the growing number of oil rigs to the mainland. As Aberdeen became the largest oil-related centre in Europe, the airport became the world's largest commercial heliport. Today, Aberdeen Airport handles more than 37,000 rotary wing movements carrying around 468,000 passengers annually. Helicopter movements account for almost half of the traffic at Aberdeen Airport.Today
Until March 2005, aircraft were not allowed to take-off or land between 22:00 and 06:00 due to noise constraints. The city council overturned this ban, however, despite some Dyce residents' strong objections, and the airport is now open 24 hours a day. Aberdeen Airport also functions as the main heliport servicing the United Kingdom's offshore oil industry. Installations serviced directly from Aberdeen stretch from the Argyll field (approx 56°N) to the Bruce field (60°N).Over 2.7 million passengers used Aberdeen Airport in 2004, which was an increase of 5.7% on figures for the previous year.
The airport has one main passenger terminal, serving scheduled and chartered holiday flights. In addition, there are 2 terminals dedicated to North Sea helicopter operations, used by Bristow Helicopters, CHC-Scotia, and Bond Offshore Helicopters. There is also a small terminal used primarily for oil company charter flights.
The airport lies on the main A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road, and is well served by local and express bus services operated by First Aberdeen and Stagecoach Bluebird.
Airlines and destinations (Scheduled)
- Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
- Atlantic Airways (Vágar)
- bmi (Amsterdam, Esbjerg, Groningen, London-Heathrow, Manchester, Norwich)
- British Airways (London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow)
- * BA Connect (Birmingham, Manchester)
- * Loganair (Glasgow, Kirkwall, Sumburgh)
- City Star Airlines (Kristiansund, Oslo, Stavanger)
- Eastern Airways (Bristol, Cardiff, Durham Tees Valley, Humberside, Inverness, Leeds/Bradford, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham East Midlands, Southampton, Stornoway, Wick)
- easyJet (London-Luton)
- Flybe (Belfast-City, Birmingham [Starts March 8, 2007], Exeter [Starts November 3], Leeds/Bradford [Starts November 3])
- Flyglobespan (Tenerife [Starts November 3])
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
- * KLM Cityhopper (Amsterdam)
- Monarch Airlines (Málaga)
- Ryanair (Dublin, Liverpool [Starts October 3])
- Scandinavian Airlines System (Copenhagen)
- * SAS Braathens (Stavanger)
- Widerøe (Bergen, Stavanger)
Holiday airlines
In addition to the scheduled services listed above, a number of holiday companies operate exclusive charter flights from Aberdeen to a number of destinations in Europe. The popular resorts of the Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Cyprus, and the Greek Islands are served by airlines including MyTravel Airways, Thomas Cook Airlines and Thomsonfly.Accidents
At 2100 BST on 22 June 2006, a City Star Airlines Dornier 328 (TF-CSB) operating a passenger flight from Stavanger, Norway, overshot the end of the runway at Aberdeen Airport by several hundred yards as it came in to land. None of the 16 passengers and 3 crew members on board were injured.Future plans
Planning permission has been lodged with the relevant authorities to extend Aberdeen Airport's main runway up to a maximum of three hundred metres - bringing the possibility of direct flights to the United States and Caribbean countries dependent on aircraft type and demand for travel. Shorter extensions of a hundred metres would bring most European destinations within reach.A timetable for other upgrades has also been released, broken into months.
''January - A service to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides is planned for launch.
February - New departure lounge opens.
March - bmi flights to Amsterdam and Flybe's Norwich service launched.
April - British Airways planning to double capacity of its business lounge.
June - new retail and catering facilities open.
Managing Director Mr Flower has also stated his hopes for a direct service to London Stansted Airport to begin in 2006, along with the above listed projects. [link]
Flyglobespan has also indicated it is planning to serve more European destinations from Aberdeen Airport in the near future, and is planning to acquire Boeing 737-700s for this purpose.
External links
- [Aberdeen Airport official site]
- [Taxiwayalpha - Scottish Airports Discussion Board]
- [Map sources] for Aberdeen Airport
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