Aberdeen Airport

The airport opened on 28 July.1934.[3] It was established by Eric Gandar Dower for his other new enterprises including Aberdeen Flying School, Aberdeen Flying Club, and his airline, Aberdeen Airways.[4]

During Second World War the airfield became a Royal Air Force station known as RAF Dyce. It was the site of the Dyce Sector Operations Room within No. 13 Group RAF. Although fighter aircraft were based there throughout the Battle of Britain to provide protection from German bombing raids from Occupied Norway, it was mainly used as a photographic reconnaissance station. Anti-shipping operations by RAF Coastal Command were carried out from RAF Dyce as well as convoy escort. The airfield was bombed by the Luftwaffe on 26 July 1940 and 27 August 1940, however no damage was reported. A decoy site ('Q' Site) was located at Harestone Moss near Whitecairns. The aim of this site was to create the impression of an active airfield during the night. The decoy worked on around four occasions, where several raids resulted in bombs being dropped on the decoy site. The decoy site had a small underground bunker that housed a generator. This was used to power a decoy 'flarepath' in addition to a rotating lamp to give the impression of a taxiing aircraft. Near the airport off the A96 road, to deter German gliders landing to attack RAF Dyce, the flat areas across from Concraig Farm (between Blackurn and Kintore) had wooden poles erected as anti-glider landing poles. A Spitfire IIa crashed at the east side of the airfield on 19 November 1941 during attack practice with a target glider being towed. F/O Zaoral is buried in the old Dyce graveyard, where some German aircrew are also buried that crashed in Aberdeen in 1940.

A significant wartime event occurred in May 1943 when a German Junkers Ju 88 night-fighter landed at Dyce; it was flown to Scotland by its crew, who wanted to defect to the Allies.[5] The surrender of this aircraft was of great intelligence value at the time, as it was fitted with the latest FuG 202 Liechtenstein BC A.I radar. The aircraft survives and is displayed in the RAF Museum in London.[5]

On 17 August 1943, a Mosquito crashed following a stall in the circuit, crashing onto 5 John Street in Dyce village; another Mosquito on 10 April 1944 crashed on approach to the airfield. On 26 December 1944, A Messerschmitt BF109G signalling intentions to surrender crash landed at the airfield. On 16 May 1945, two pilots were killed when a Wellington bomber crashed on landing wrecking a goods train in Dyce railway station. During air-raids in the Second World War, aircraft were moved to East Fingask beside Oldmeldrum. One RAF building still remains at East Fingask, where aircrews waited for the "All Clear" before returning to Dyce airfield.

The following units have been based at Aberdeen Airport:[6]

The airport is the world's busiest heliport. Here four helicopters are lined up in the morning waiting to begin the day's operations.

Virtually nothing remains from the war era at the airport due to expansion and development of the industrial estates around it. The original airport terminal was located at the east side where the Bond Offshore Helicopters Terminal 2 is located, a new terminal was built along with a new control tower to handle the increase in air traffic. The airport was nationalised in 1947 and was transferred to the control of the British Airports Authority (BAA) in 1975.[7] From 1967 and 1970 there were regular flights to Moscow and Toronto; these were later stopped due to cost related problems.

With the discovery of North Sea oil, helicopter operations began in 1967, linking the growing number of oil platforms 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 all aircraft movements at the airport.

Various aircraft at Aberdeen International Airport in July 2014

Until March 2005, aircraft were not allowed to take-off or land between 22:30 and 06:00 local time due to noise constraints. The city council overturned this ban, however, despite some Dyce residents' objections, and the airport is now open 24 hours a day to fixed-wing aircraft[8] with a quota count of QC4 or below, and the overnight restrictions still apply to helicopters.[1]

General aviation flight training for private pilots licences takes place from the east side of the airport. Signature Flight Support also handles most of the private flights and corporate jets that park on the Eastside Apron. An air ambulance (fixed wing) is positioned on the eastside in a dedicated hangar, Gama Aviation operates the Super King-Air aircraft. There is an additional air ambulance Eurocopter EC135 helicopter based at the airport for use during daylight hours to attend emergency incidents.

Aberdeen, being a major city in the oil industry has a number of oil company charter flights, these have included flights to South America and also Korea (via Abu Dhabi). Flights from the USA are regular visitors and the occasional military flights have also landed.

On 6 October 2011, a 124-metre extension to the main runway at the airport was opened, almost eight months ahead of schedule.[9] On 8 January 2013, the airport was renamed Aberdeen International Airport.[10]

In October 2014, Heathrow Airport Holdings reached an agreement to sell the airport, together with Southampton and Glasgow, to a consortium of Ferrovial and Macquarie Group for £1 billion.[11] The airport handles around 500,000 passengers per year by helicopter for the North Sea oil fields.[12] making it the world's busiest heliport.[13]

A total of just under 3.1 million passengers used the airport in 2017, an increase of 4.6% compared with 2016.[2] The airport's Master Plan 2013 forecast growth to 5.09 million passengers a year by 2040.[14][1] A major three-year project (2016-2019) aims to transform the passenger terminal and increase space by 50%.[15]

In 2019 the airport was ranked worst in Scotland and sixth worst in the UK by Which? magazine in a ranking of 30 airports for customer satisfaction, with a score of 50%.[16] Edinburgh performed better on 61% while Glasgow International achieved the top rank in Scotland at 64%. In February, Easyjet announced that they will axe their Aberdeen to Gatwick service.[17] in December 2020, easyJet announced that they would reverse this decision and would restart flights to Gatwick Airport in May 2021.

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Aberdeen:[18]

See source Wikidata query.

The Aberdeen–Inverness railway line and Dyce railway station are located alongside the eastern boundary of the airport. As of July 2020 there is no scheduled bus service between the station and the main passenger terminal which is located on the western side of the airfield.[37] Between 2012 and 2017 a shuttle bus (No. 80 Dyce Airlink) provided transport between the station and the terminal. The service ceased operation due to low passenger numbers, attributed by the operator to lower activity in the North Sea oil and gas industry.[38]

Aberdeen Airport is served by local and express bus services operated by First Aberdeen and Stagecoach Bluebird. There is a dedicated No.727 bus service up to every 10 minutes to the main bus and rail station in central Aberdeen.[39]

Since 5 August 2019, the brand new X27 bus service was introduced which connects Aberdeen City Centre, Dyce railway station, TECA (P&J Live) and the heliports which are around a 5-minute walk to the main terminal.[40]

The airport lies on the main A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road, being only a few kilometres from the city centre itself.

The airport is connected to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route at the Craibstone exit which is around 1 mile drive away from the Main terminal.