Isle of Skye (Broadford) Airfield (also known as Ashaig Airstrip or Broadford Aerodrome) is a small airfield on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, with a single runway. It is next to the hamlet of Ashaig, near the village of Broadford.

History

The airport was constructed by the

Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

and opened in 1972 to serve as a gateway to the Isle of Skye.

Loganair Loganair is a Scottish regional airline headquartered at Glasgow Airport in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. The airline primarily operates domestic flights within the United Kingdom. It is the largest regional airline in Scotland by passenger ...

operated a scheduled service from the airfield to

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

from 1972. However, this service was discontinued in 1988. No commercial services have existed since then, and the airfield is usually deserted. The airport is occasionally used by

NHS Highland NHS Highland () is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. Geographically, it is the largest Health Board, covering an area of from Kintyre in the south-west to Caithness in the north-east, serving a population of 320,000 people. In 2016 ...

and the

Scottish Ambulance Service The Scottish Ambulance Service () is part of NHS Scotland, which serves all of Scotland, Scotland's population. The Scottish Ambulance Service is governed by a NHS Scotland#Special health boards, special health board and is funded directly by t ...

for transferring patients to hospitals in Inverness or Glasgow. In 1980 the airport was used as a filming location for the opening scene of ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

''. In recent years the airfield has been used for storage of large

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

components. It is also used for

land sailing Land sailing, also known as sand yachting, land yachting or dirtboating, entails overland travel with a sail-powered vehicle, similar to sailing on water. Originally, a form of transportation or recreation, it has evolved primarily into a racin ...

activities.

Music festival

Between 2005 and 2007 the airfield hosted the Isle of Skye Music Festival. In March 2012, it hosted the Celtic Connections Big Top, part of Glasgow's

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of trad ...

festival. Artists performing at this two-day event included

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Cash. Although Cash is often classified as a country artist, her music draws f ...

The Civil Wars The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, their style blended folk, country, and Americana, characterized by haunting harmonies and poignant lyrics. The duo gained recognition ...

Raul Malo Raul Francisco Martínez-Malo Jr. (born August 7, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He is the lead singer of country music band the Mavericks and the co-writer of many of their singles, as well as Rick Tr ...

Mànran Mànran are a Scottish people, Scottish band that was established in June 2010. Mànran is a Gaelic word for a melodic sound or a sweet tone. Since 2010 they have performed in over 30 countries worldwide including several international folk & w ...

and

Niteworks Niteworks (also known by the Scottish Gaelic ''Obair Oidhche'') was an Electronic Celtic fusion band from the Isle of Skye. The band are known for writing new songs in Gaelic and melding the bagpipes and Gaelic song forms such as puirt à beul ...

. This was the first time Celtic Connections has held an event outside Glasgow.

References

External links

*
Isle of Skye Aerodrome - Highland Council
Airports in Scotland Transport in Highland (council area) Isle of Skye Airports established in 1972 {{UK-airport-stub