Commercial flights to Skye remains 'possibility'

Resuming commercial flights to Skye remains a possibility, according to Highland Council.

Loganair ran services from Ashaig Airfield, near Broadford, to Glasgow until 1988.

The local authority-owned airstrip is currently used by a flying club, visiting aircraft and emergency services.

Highland councillors agreed last week to continue its maintenance of the airfield.

They also decided an airfield it has responsibility for at Dornoch should be offered to a local community group, and another at Plockton sold or leased out long-term.

Plans were developed previously to revamp Ashaig and resume commercial scheduled flights.

A report to the council last week confirmed Highlands and Islands Enterprise, transport body Hitrans and members of the local community continued to be interested in the project.

But they also said the proposals would likely need to be revisited due to impacts of the Covid pandemic and advances in aviation technology.

Councillors agreed the airfield should be maintained to a level that support commercial flights in the future.

In 2016, it was calculated that over 30 years the flights could generate in the region of £36m to £46m, depending on whether nine-seat or 19-seat aircraft were used.

The strip was built in the 1970s by Army engineers, and appears briefly in a scene from the 1980 film Flash Gordon, which starred Sam J Jones, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed.

Ashaig, Dornoch and Plockton have no staff, air traffic control or firefighting services.

Dornoch is a grass airfield, with the grass cutting done by nearby Royal Dornoch Golf Club. There is interest in the local area about taking it on as a community asset.

Plockton is an asphalt airfield leased on a rolling basis to a helicopter company.