The airport was built and commissioned in 1940 as RAF Grimsetter for the defence of the Scapa Flow naval base. In 1943, the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm took over, as RNAS Grimsetter then HMS Robin. Control passed in 1948 to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and in 1986 to Highlands and Islands Airports.[3]
On 6 July 1943, RAF Grimsetter was transferred on loan to the Admiralty and known as Royal Naval Air Station Grimsetter (RNAS Grimsetter). On 15 August, it was commissioned as HMS Robin, as a satellite to RNAS Hatston (HMS Sparrowhawk),[8] located 1 mi (1.6 km) to the north west of Kirkwall.
The following Fleet Air Arm units were here at some point:[9]
The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Kirkwall:
Cargo
Statistics and traffic
Annual traffic statistics
Busiest routes
Accidents and incidents
The Viscount G-BGYZ damaged 1979 at Kirkwall seen in Stuttgart, May 1979
25 October 1979 – A Vickers Viscount G-BFYZ of Alidair was damaged beyond economic repair when the aircraft departed the runway after #4 propeller struck the runway. The nosewheel collapsed when the aircraft reached an intersecting runway.[21]
Green energy
Hydrogen production by electrolysis of water was well under way in late 2020 in Orkney, where clean energy sources (wind, waves, tides) were generating excess electricity that could be used to produce hydrogen gas (H2).[22] A plan was under way at Kirkwall Airport to add a hydrogen combustion engine system to the heating system in order to reduce the significant emissions that were created with older technology that heated buildings and water. This was part of the plan formulated by the Scottish government for the Highlands and Islands "to become the world's first net zero aviation region by 2040".[23]
Artwork
The airport is notable for the signage on the terminal roof written in runes. The symbols spell the word 'Krimsitir' or 'Grimsetter'[24][better source needed] , the name of the bay next to which the airfield is located, which was similarly the name of the former RAF base.
Notes
References
Citations
^ a bhttps://nats-uk.ead-it.com/cms-nats/opencms/en/Publications/AIP/
Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
Sturtivant, R; Ballance, T (1994). The Squadrons of The Fleet Air Arm. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-223-8.
