Aberdeen Airport
Aberdeen Airport Aberdeen/Dyce Airport | |||||||||||||||||||
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| File:BAA Aberdeen logo.png | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | BAA | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Aberdeen Airport Ltd. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Serves | Aberdeen | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dyce | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 215 ft / 66 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 57°12′07″N 002°11′52″W / 57.20194°N 2.19778°W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www.aberdeenairport.com | ||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Helipads | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2006) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Aberdeen Airport (IATA: ABZ, ICAO: EGPD) is the third largest airport in Scotland, and one of the UK's top 10 by number of flights [1]. The airport is located in Dyce, approximately 5 nautical miles (9 km) northwest of Aberdeen city centre. 3.16 million passengers used Aberdeen Airport in 2006, which was an increase of 10.9% on figures for the previous year.
The airport is owned by BAA, and is the hub of bmi regional, a subsidiary of bmi, City Star Airlines and Eastern Airways, as well as being a focus city of Flyglobespan. 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).
The airport has one main passenger terminal, serving scheduled and chartered holiday flights. In addition, there are 3 terminals dedicated to North Sea helicopter operations, used by Bristow Helicopters, CHC-Scotia, and Bond Offshore Helicopters. There is also a small terminal (Broomsfield House) used primarily for oil company charter flights to Sumburgh.
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 was transferred to the control of the British Airports Authority (BAA) in 1975.
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. Helicopters account for almost half of aircraft movements at Aberdeen Airport.
Until March 2005, aircraft were not allowed to take-off or land between 22:30 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.
Airlines and destinations
Scheduled
Various airlines operate scheduled domestic and international services to and from Aberdeen-Dyce Airport.
- Air France
- operated by Régional (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
- Atlantic Airways (Vágar)
- bmi (London-Heathrow)
- bmi regional (Amsterdam [ends October 2007], Esbjerg, Groningen, Kristiansand, Manchester, Norwich)
- bmibaby (Birmingham)
- British Airways (London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow)
- operated by Loganair (Kirkwall, Sumburgh)
- City Star Airlines (Ålesund [from August 20, 2007], Bergen, Houston-Intercontinental [from January 2008], Kristiansund, Oslo, Stavanger)
- Eastern Airways (Bristol, Durham Tees Valley, Humberside, Leeds/Bradford, Newcastle, Norwich, Nottingham/East Midlands, Southampton, Stavanger, Stornoway, Wick)
- easyJet (London-Luton)
- Flybe (Belfast-City, Birmingham, Exeter, Leeds/Bradford)
- Flyglobespan (Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Funchal [from November 5, 2007], Málaga [from November 3, 2007], Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Paphos, Prague [from November 2, 2007], Tenerife-South)
- KLM (Amsterdam)
- operated by KLM Cityhopper (Amsterdam)
- Monarch Airlines (Málaga [Ends in November 2007])
- Ryanair (Dublin, Liverpool [ends November 20, 2007])
- Scandinavian Airlines System (Copenhagen, Stavanger)
- Widerøe (Bergen, Stavanger)
Charter Flights Summer 2007
A number of holiday companies operate exclusive charter flights from Aberdeen to a number of destinations in Europe.
- Air Europa (Las Palmas, Palma, Tenerife-South)
- Balkan Holidays Airlines (Bourgas)
- BMI (Alicante, Ibiza, Mahon, Málaga, Palma, Reus)
- European Aviation Air Charter (Lourdes)
- Free Bird Airlines (Dalaman)
- Spanair (Tenerife-South)
- VLM Airlines (Jersey)
Special charter services
Aberdeen Airport also has special charter flights organised by the Evening Express and Press and Journal Reader Travel either for a day or for a week. Destinations have included: Alghero, Malta, Naples, Palermo, Verona, Rovaniemi, Vienna for a day trip. These destinations have been operated by a host of different airlines including Astraeus, Air Malta, BMI, First Choice Airways, My Travel, Travel Service and Thomsonfly.
Facilities
Aberdeen Airport provides the usual services one would expect in an international airport, including shopping and eating facilities, games area, internet access, car hire (provided by Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Alamo and Enterprise), bureau de change, taxi ranks and executive lounges. Shopping facilities include World News, and Baxters, with Dixons Tax Free, World Duty & Tax Free Shopping and World News in the departure lounge. Eateries are in the form of Costa Coffee, The Food Hub, J&R Tennants, with SipBar in the departures area. There is also a Thistle Hotel and Speedbird Inn on the airport site, with a Travelodge and Marriott Hotel between the airport and the Dyce railway station.
Incidents and 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 airport's runway by several hundred yards as it came in to land. None of the 16 passengers and 3 crew members on board were injured.
Transport
Road
The airport lies on the main A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road, being only a few kilometers from the city centre itself.
Bus
Aberdeen Airport is well served by local and express bus services operated by First Aberdeen and Stagecoach Bluebird. Chartered buses can also be booked with local operators.
Rail
While the airport is in close proximity to the Dyce railway station, the station is situated on the wrong side of the runways from the terminal. Access to the East Coast line requires a taxi journey, since most of the route does not even have a pavement and would result in a walk of about three miles.
The East coast line to Inverness is a single stop from the major UK railway station in the city centre, Aberdeen to the south. Aberdeen station is served by First ScotRail, GNER and Virgin Trains.
Future plans
Planning permission has been lodged with the relevant authorities to extend Aberdeen Airport's main runway by 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.
- Airport expansion is strongly opposed by climate change and environmental campaigners. See [2].
- A timetable for other upgrades has also been released, broken into months.