January 5, 2021 That's Just Beachy

The Liberty Gazette

January 5, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: On the remote islands of far Northwestern Scotland, there aren’t a great number of airports. But there are a lot of rocks and water. And beaches. Which is where you’ll find the Barra Airport. You can’t miss it – it’s at the beach. (C’mon, it’s the Outer Hebrides. They do everything a bit different there.)

This is the only beach in the world that is used regularly for scheduled flights. They get two flights a day from Glasgow, cutting that journey down from eight hours by ferry and car to one hour by air. 

“Built” in 1936, this beach airport is a vital link for the communities on the isolated Hebridean Islands. It’s a lovely beach, which can be a problem sometimes because some people don’t realize it’s an airport. It is not uncommon for the airport manager or his staff to have to explain to “beach-goers” that they can’t hunt there for pretty seashells. 

In fact, there are three runways. For landing, they are oriented on the compass to 330, 290, and 250 degrees, generally, landing to the west. They are all one way in and one way out, which means you land one way but takeoff in the opposite direction. However, take note that London’s Heathrow Airport only has two runways. Reasons for this include the need for more options with higher island winds at the Isle of Barra (it’s important to land as much into the wind as possible), and that much smaller aircraft land there, as opposed to the “heavies” that frequent Heathrow. Still, it brings a smile to say that London has some catching up to do with the islanders. 

People come from all over the world just to experience landing on a beach (as a passenger). Barra is also one of the most photographed airports in the world, and, it can claim another “most” that isn’t likely to be eclipsed by any other—they say it is the cleanest airport in the world because, after all, it gets washed by the tide twice a day. 

Oh, and the name of the beach? It’s “Big Beach.” I guess originality has its limits.

Scotland’s national airline is Logan Air. When we stopped by their headquarters in Glasgow, unannounced, they were wonderfully welcoming and asked us to come back so we could fly some of
their routes with them. Flying into Barra will be at the top of my list when we go back there.

Mike: The Twin Otter is a perfect airplane to take into the Barra Airport. It has a long fat wing and big fat tires, great for floating along the sand on takeoffs and landings. That Logan Air operates such a unique airplane to such a unique place makes us want to be just like those other passengers that fly in there. However, having logged 800 hours in Twin Otters, I’d like to take a hand at the controls and make one of those big Scottish beach landings myself. 

Happy New Year to all who do not support censorship or Communism.

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