This is Broadford Airfield, also known as Ashaig Airstrip or Broadford Aerodrome, on the Isle of Skye. The airfield is next to the community of Ashaig, near the village of Broadford; hence the names. The airstrip is operated and managed by the Highland Council or “Chomhairle na Gàidhealtachd” as it is called in Gaelic.
It is a rather small airfield with a single runway at 7 m / 24 ft AMSL. The RWY is 07/25, 793 x 23 meter (2,600 x 75,4 ft), an asphalt surface. The airstrip was initially constructed by the Corps of Royal Engineers and opened in 1972 to serve as a gateway to the Isle of Skye.
There are no commercial flights anymore. Loganair ran services from Ashaig to Glasgow until 1988. They also planned flights to London, but those plans were never realised. Currently most air travellers arrive via Inverness Airport, which branded itself as “The Gateway to the Highlands of Scotland”. Certainly the fact that easyJet started operations at Inverness had also something to do with it…
The airport is occasionally used by NHS Highland,the Scottish Ambulance Service for transferring patients to hospitals in Inverness or Glasgow and periodically for some small military exercises. Also Loch Lomond Seaplanes still uses the strip for some chartered scenic flights in the region.
There is no hangar available for visiting aircraft, nor are there any repairing facilities. Therefore, it is recommended to use the available concrete boulders to secure aircraft, as the Highlands are famous for the ‘4 seasons in one day’ weather. The required rescue equipment, primarily for helicopter operations, is stored in containerlike “boxes” next to the parking apron.
In recent years the airfield has been used more and more for storage of large wind turbine components, like blades and pylons. The mini bus in the background is actually from a private security company as wind turbines components would arrive the next morning from Kyle of Lochalsh.
The use of the airport is by a honesty system. After arrival you have to complete a landing log which can be found in a box on the blue sea container. Post completed logs in the box are marked as completed logs and pilots will be send an invoice. Leaving cash is not really appreciated 😉.
This was my second time at the airstrip. The first time was roughly 20 years ago. Nothing has changed much since then. Even then there were several plans to open a new airport on Skye. So, I’m wondering what the situation will be like in 10 to 15 years’ time. Honestly, I don’t have any expectations for any new developments. The Highland Council is divided on new plans. Several Highland councilors from the north of Skye have suggested building a brand new airport near the town of Kensaleyre. An airport at this location would lie more centrally within the Skye region and also answer the need of the north. It would lie closer to Portree, the largest town and economic centre of the Island. Portree is now a 45-minute drive away on a busy scenic route. A big downside to this proposal is that an airport at Kensaleyre would have a bigger impact with regards to noise, environmental and visibility. Furthermore, it would be of less interest to the Lochalsh and other surrounding mainland communities. Thereby reducing the already small catchment area even further. So in actual fact, the famous “law of preserving misery” applies here.
Technical stuff
This HDR is made from one single shot using Aurora HDR 2018. I took the photo at F14, 1/250, -1 (instead of my usual -2/3 ;-) at 500 ISO.
After the conversion to HDR, I used PS CC for post-production. This included, colour toning, curves enhancement, balancing the lighting conditions in the sky and underlining the vibrance and contrast. Finally I added the copyright watermarks. The latter is, alas, there to stay due to the frequent copying of my photos. So, don't bother commenting on that
