Benbecula Airport Port-adhair Bheinn na Faoghla | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Private | ||||||||||
| Owner/Operator | HIAL | ||||||||||
| Serves | Benbecula | ||||||||||
| Location | Balivanich, Scotland | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 19 ft / 6 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 57°28′52″N 007°21′46″W / 57.48111°N 7.36278°W / 57.48111; -7.36278 | ||||||||||
| Website | Benbecula Airport | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
EGPL Location in Scotland | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2025) | |||||||||||
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| Sources: UK AIP at NATS1 Statistics: UK Civil Aviation Authority23 | |||||||||||
Benbecula Airport (Scottish Gaelic: Port-adhair Bheinn na Faoghla) (IATA: BEB, ICAO: EGPL) is located on the island of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, off the West Coast of Scotland. It is a small rural airport owned and maintained by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited.
History
Early years
An airfield has existed on Benbecula since 1936 when Scottish Airways began operating to what was known as Balivanich Airfield, located on the north west corner of the island.4
Second World War
Between 1941 and 1942, during the Second World War, the airfield became RAF Benbecula, when it came under the control of the Royal Air Force's No. 15 (GR) Group, Coastal Command. During this period it was home to aircraft carrying out patrols in the Atlantic, protecting shipping convoys from German U-Boats.4 Such missions were carried out by the Lockheed Hudson and latterly the Boeing Fortress and Vickers Wellington.5
At its peak, RAF Benbecula had several thousand troops stationed at the station and at several other sites around the islands.
The following units were based at the airfield at some point:
- No. 36 Squadron RAF6
- No. 179 Squadron RAF7
- No. 206 Squadron RAF8
- No. 220 Squadron RAF9
- No. 279 Squadron RAF10
- No. 280 Squadron RAF10
- No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron11
- No. 455 Squadron RAAF12
- 814 Naval Air Squadron10
- 819 Naval Air Squadron10
- 838 Naval Air Squadron10
- 842 Naval Air Squadron10
- No. 2841 Squadron RAF Regiment10
Postwar
The airfield later became the control centre for the nearby Hebrides Rocket Range.4 After the Second World War, the airfield became Benbecula Airport.
Airlines and destinations
The airport provides scheduled services to the Scottish mainland and other Hebridean islands. In so doing it provides vital transport connections for the islands of Benbecula, North Uist and South Uist, which are interlinked by causeway but are over two hours from the mainland by sea. The airport is also used by emergency air ambulance flights and by flights supporting the nearby missile test range.
Passenger
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Hebridean Air Services | Stornoway13 |
| Loganair | Glasgow |
Cargo
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Loganair | Inverness,14 Stornoway14 |
Statistics
In popular culture
- The airport is also significant to the modern history of Scottish Gaelic literature as, during the Second World War, iconic war poet Dòmhnall Ruadh Chorùna served in the Home Guard, about which he composed the song Òran a' Home Guard ("The Song of the Home Guard"), which pokes fun at an exercise in which a platoon from North Uist was ordered to simulate retaking Benbecula Airport from the invading Germans.15
References
References
Citations
- "EGPL Benbecula". NATS eAIS. 16 April 2026. pp. AD 2.1, AD 2.12. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- "UK airport data 2025 / Annual / Table 09 Passengers". CAA.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
- "UK airport data 2025 / Annual / Table 04.1 Movements". CAA.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
- "About Us - Benbecula Airport". Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- "Marking the 75th anniversary of Western Isles air bases". Stornoway Gazette. 27 March 2016. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- Jefford 1988, p. 37.
- Jefford 1988, p. 65.
- Jefford 1988, p. 69.
- Jefford 1988, p. 72.
- "Benbecula (Balivanich)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- Jefford 1988, p. 85.
- Jefford 1988, p. 93.
- "New airline Hebridean Air Services taking off with improved Stornoway - Benbecula timetable". Hebrides News. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
- n.a. (31 January 2017). "Loganair secures new Royal Mail Contract". BBC.
- Domhnall Ruadh Choruna, Edited by Fred Macauley (1995), pages 102–105.
Bibliography
- Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.