The closure of Scatsta Airport, initially revealed in early March, has been confirmed to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. It is expected to shut on June 30, Shetland News reported.
The decision, resulting in the direct loss of 50 to 80 jobs, came about as oil industry flights operating from the airfield located in the north of the main island move to Sumburgh, the primary airport serving Shetland, from July 1.
This was because Integrated Aviation Consortium, a partnership involving Bristow Helicopters and Eastern Airways, lost a major contract with oil and gas companies in June 2018 to helicopter operator Babcock MCS Offshore (Aberdeen Dyce).
“Sumburgh and Scatsta will continue to play a major role in our delivery of aviation services to operators and the supply chain in the coming years,” a Bristow spokesman told ch-aviation at the time.
On May 20, the British transport and public services provider Serco Group, which operates Scatsta Airport, confirmed the decision to close the airfield.
“Sadly the closure of Scatsta has been confirmed to the Civil Aviation Authority, and the aerodrome is expected to close on June 30,” said Steve Knights, the group’s head of airport services. “Our priority now is to help and support our employees at Scatsta, many of whom have worked there for many years and who have provided a fantastic service to the North Sea oil and gas industry and the people of the Shetland Islands.”
Scatsta, which has a 1,360-metre asphalt 06/24 runway, opened in the archipelago in the late 1970s to support the oil boom in the Northern Atlantic. Before that, it was used as an airfield for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, being the most northerly base in the British Isles at that time. The airport had only recently undergone significant upgrades such as a new control tower building which opened in January 2013.
