Stornoway Airport (IATA: SYY, ICAO: EGPO) is an airfield located 2 NM (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) east of the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland. The Royal Air Force maintained an RAF airbase at the site of the airport until 1998.
Stornoway Airport is owned by HIAL, a company controlled by the Scottish Government. The airfield was first opened in 1937, and used mainly for military purposes. NATO aircraft used the airport for missions over the North Atlantic and for stop overs to Greenland and the United States.
Nowadays the airfield is mainly used for domestic passenger services. The Royal Mail also operates a daily mail flight. CHC Helicopters operate 2 Sikorsky S-92 helicopters, registration G-CGMU & G-SARB, equipped for search and rescue on behalf of HM Coastguard. The helicopter crews have flown on over 3,100 callouts since the establishment of the service in May 1987. There are also several privately owned light aircraft based at the airport.
Stornoway Airport was also the location of an emergency landing made by a Lufthansa Boeing 747-200 in 1981, due to a medical emergency on board. The aircraft was en route from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Frankfurt Airport when it landed. It stayed at the airport for 2 days.
Read more about Stornoway Airport: Airlines and Destinations, Accident and Incidents
Famous quotes containing the word airport:
“It was like taking a beloved person to the airport and returning to an empty house. I miss the people. I miss the world.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)