Tingwall Airport

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia

Tingwall Airport terminal building.

Inter-island flights from Tingwall Airport to Foula, Papa Stour, Fair Isle, and Out Skerries, are operated by Directflight Ltd. under contract to the Shetland Islands Council.

Tingwall (EGET) airport was opened on the 20th of October 1976 by the then-councillor J.J. Johnson to replace the grass strip which existed slightly further south down the Tingwall Valley. The aerodrome is owned and operated by the Shetland Islands Council, to provide a base for inter-island air services to Foula, Fair Isle, Out Skerries and Papa Stour. There were also formerly flights to Unst and Fetlar by BN-2B Islander aircraft, and to Edinburgh by DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin-Otter aircraft, which still operate services to the Hebrides from there.

The sole aircraft hangar on the airport existed originally at Sumburgh Airport (EGPB) until it was dismantled and rebuilt on the tarmac apron at Tingwall.

Loganair held the contracts for inter-island air-transport flights and air ambulance flights both from the outer isles to the Shetland Mainland, and from Shetland to Aberdeen with several BN-2B Islander aircraft based at Tingwall, Kirkwall and Glasgow. Recently, the air-ambulance contract was awarded to Gama Aviation, who operate Beechcraft Kingair-200 aircraft (Based in Aberdeen) and a Sumburgh-based Aerospatiale AS-332L2 Puma helicopter which combines outer-isles air-ambulance duties with its main role as a standby rescue helicopter for offshore installations in the North Sea. There is also an Inverness-based Eurocopter EC-135 rescue helicopter which has seen regular use in outer-isles patient-transfers. Directflight Ltd was awarded the inter-island air-transport contract by the Shetland Islands Council, who had bought a new Islander - G-SICA and a refurbished ex-police Islander G-SICB for the new contract.

Direct Flight Islander aircraft just after take-off, above the hangar at Tingwall Airport.

The Sumburgh-based coastguard rescue helicopter (Formerly the Bristow Helicopters-operated Sikorsky S-61 G-CGOC, affectionately known as 'Oscar Charlie' locally, now a Sikorsky S-92 series - G-SARC and G-CGOC among others) also use Tingwall as the closest airfield to the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick to land patients from the Isles, offshore vessels and even oil installations. The Coastguard contract was recently awarded to CHC-Scotia, who brought the S-92s to the isles to replace the ageing S-61. The runway is 764M x 18M asphalt, with approach lights (to the South), obstacle lights, runway side, end, threshold and apron lights. Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPIs) for both directions are available. There is a Flight Information Service available to aircraft between 0830 and 1700 (Local time) Mon-Fri and 1030-1500 (Local) on Saturdays during the summer months on 125.300MHz. A non-directional beacon (NDB) operates permanently on 376KHz adjacent to the runway.

Avgas 100LL is available from the firemen/attendants during opening hours, and an aerodrome fire/rescue service to Cat-1 (Also Cat-2 on remission) is manned during opening hours.

There has been one fatal crash at Tingwall during its history, when an Islander returning from Aberdeen after a successful air-ambulance flight in May 1996 crashed approx 1500M South of the field in bad weather, fatally wounding the pilot and injuring a doctor and nurse who were aboard at the time. The AAIB report can be found here: http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_501869.pdf

Among its other distinctions, Tingwall airport holds the honor of having Prince Charles make use of the Firemen's urinal...