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Scatsta Airport was a private and formerly commercial aerodrome on Shetland Mainland, built during the Second World War as an RAF fighter base and later reinstated to support the Sullom Voe oil terminal. It closed completely to all operations on 30 June 2020, making it now of purely historical interest to a simulator pilot rather than an active destination.
Scatsta was a private airport on the island of Mainland, Shetland, that for over four decades served as the fixed-wing gateway for offshore oil and gas workers heading to platforms in the North Sea and North Atlantic. It began life as a wartime RAF station and was later revived to support the nearby Sullom Voe oil terminal, giving it an unusual dual character that makes it an interesting study for anyone interested in the aviation history of the Shetland Islands. The field closed to all flying in June 2020, so it survives today chiefly as a piece of aeronautical history rather than a live VFR destination.
Scatsta lies on Mainland, Shetland, about 17 nautical miles north of Lerwick and some 5 miles southwest of the Sullom Voe oil terminal, which the airport was built to serve. Sumburgh Airport, in the south of Shetland, later took over the fixed-wing and helicopter logistics role that Scatsta had performed for the offshore industry.
Scatsta has a single hard-surfaced runway aligned 06/24, lit, with the 06 threshold offering 4,066 feet of usable length and the 24 threshold 4,090 feet. The field sits at an elevation of 46 feet and there is no ILS.
No published radio frequencies or navigational aids for Scatsta are available; the field has no ILS. A control tower was added when the passenger terminal was refurbished in 2012, reflecting the airport's period of scheduled and helicopter-support operations before its closure.
Scatsta was first developed from 1940 as RAF Scatsta, a Royal Air Force fighter station built to support Coastal Command flying-boat operations at nearby RAF Sullom Voe, and it was the most northerly air base in the British Isles. Construction of two runways began in spring 1940, one 1,400 yards long on a heading of 130 degrees and the other 1,510 yards long on a heading of 250 degrees, with the first runway completed in April 1941; the main contractor was Zetland County Council. In November 1944 Scatsta served as a support base and diversion point for Lancasters of 617 Squadron, the
Scatsta Airport closed completely to all operations on 30 June 2020, after the integrated offshore logistics contract that had sustained its fixed-wing and helicopter traffic was awarded to Babcock MCS, which chose to base its operations at Sumburgh Airport instead; the closure cost around 65 jobs. Following closure, Shetland Islands Council, the airport's owner, began looking into alternative uses for the airfield infrastructure. As the aerodrome is no longer operational, there are no current flying facilities, fuel, or hours of operation to report.
