Departure
92%
vs 95% ▼ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Wick John O'Groats Airport lies on the far north-eastern tip of the Scottish mainland, a mile north of the town of Wick in Caithness. Operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, it is a historic wartime airfield that today combines light general aviation, offshore helicopter support and occasional scheduled and military traffic. Its long single hard runway and remote coastal setting make it a notable staging point for trans-Atlantic ferry flights via Iceland.
Wick John O'Groats Airport is a civilian aerodrome owned and operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, serving the town of Wick and the wider Caithness area at the north-eastern extremity of the Scottish mainland. It is of particular interest to visiting pilots as a well-known refuelling and rest stop for light aircraft undertaking ferry flights between Europe and North America via Iceland, and it also supports helicopter operations for offshore oil and the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm, alongside out-of-hours call-outs for air ambulance, coastguard and police flights.
The airfield sits about one mile north of the town of Wick, at the north-eastern tip of the Scottish mainland in the Highland council area. It occupies a remote, low-lying coastal position with the North Sea close to the east.
Wick has a single paved physical runway, 13/31, aligned northwest-southeast. Runway 13 is 5205 ft long and runway 31 is 5020 ft long; both are hard-surfaced and lit. The airfield elevation is 112 ft. There is no ILS approach. Two further runways from the airfield's wartime layout are disused.
Wick's radio services operate on 119.705 MHz, used for AFIS, approach and tower functions, with an ATIS available on 113.6 MHz.
Wick began as a grass airfield used from 1933 to 1939 by Captain E. E. Fresson's Highland Airways Ltd, later Scottish Airways Ltd. It was requisitioned by the Air Ministry during the Second World War and extended with hard runways, hangars and other buildings, becoming Royal Air Force Wick, administered by No. 18 Group RAF Coastal Command and No. 13 Group RAF Fighter Command, with a satellite airfield at RAF Skitten. On 21 May 1941 a photographic-reconnaissance Spitfire flown from Wick by Flying Officer Michael F. Suckling located and photographed the German battleship Bismarck hiding in Grimstadfjord, Norway, intelligence that led to the Royal Navy deploying HMS Hood and other vessels against her. On 5 March 1942 reconnaissance pilot Sandy Gunn, flying from Wick, was shot down over German naval installations in Norway; he survived as a prisoner of war but was executed two years later after taking part in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III. Wick hosted a very large number of RAF, Commonwealth and allied squadrons and flights during the war, including Canadian, Polish, Australian and New Zealand units, reflecting its importance to Coastal Command and photographic-reconnaissance operations against German naval forces.
The airport is owned and maintained by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited and provides air travel connections for Caithness, with scheduled services to Aberdeen Airport; services to Edinburgh ran until early 2020, and funding has since been announced to help reintroduce flights. The field remains regularly used by helicopters supporting local offshore oil operations and the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm, and light aircraft continue to use it as a stop-over point for ferry flights between Europe and North America via Iceland. It also operates an out-of-hours call-out service for air ambulance, coastguard and police flights, and has occasionally hosted visiting military aircraft. Only one of the airfield's runways remains usable, the other two dating from its wartime layout being disused.
