Transport / Internal flights could move to Sumburgh for a month during Tingwall Airport resurfacing
SHETLAND’s inter-island flights look likely to move to Sumburgh for around one month next year to allow Tingwall Airport’s runway to be resurfaced.
A report presented to councillors on Monday said the work at Tingwall has now been scheduled for May 2025.
It is anticipated that the entire runway, owned by Shetland Islands Council (SIC), will be resurfaced and that flights will need to move to HIAL’s Sumburgh Airport will this work takes place.
“The airport will therefore be closed for the entire month,” a report to members of the SIC’s environment and transport committee said.
“Meetings are ongoing with the CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] to ensure that the necessary approvals are in place, and the air services provider AirTask has been informed, to allow alternative arrangements via Sumburgh Airport to be made.”
Councillors were told earlier this year that the resurfacing project had to be deferred to 2025 as a knock-on effect of a breakdown of mixing equipment at the Scord Quarry.
An initial business justification case approved by councillors earlier this year highlighted that the resurfacing project is estimated to cost more than £1 million.
It added that the runway surface has deteriorated and has required patching each year over the last ten years to maintain its integrity, while there has also been concern over the thickness of the bitumen layers.
Tingwall Airport runs flights to Fair Isle and Foula, with Airtask operating the service on behalf of the council.
It is not just scheduled passenger flights that operate from the airport though, with the runway having also been utilised by emergency services and as well as the Northern Lighthouse Board and private users.
Meanwhile Sumburgh Airport is the base for external Loganair flights from Shetland to the Scottish mainland.
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