Highlands and Islands Airports Limited

Work to resurface the main runway at Tiree Airport in the Inner Hebrides has started. Highlands and Islands Airports Limited is investing more than £2 million in the project at the smallest of its 10 airports.

The project forms part of HIAL’s rolling capital programme which aims to maintain fit for purpose infrastructure at its 10 airports.

The main contractor, Colas, will take delivery of 20,000 tonnes of aggregates and 1,000 tonnes of bitumen transported to the island to resurface the 72,000m² runway over the next four weeks. Aggregates will be transported by barge while the bitumen will reach the island on the regular CalMac ferry service.

A ferry was recently chartered to move plant to the site which included paving machinery, tippers, on-site testing laboratory and one of the largest mobile asphalt plans in the UK with a production capacity of 225 tonnes per hour.

Tiree Airport handled 7,500 passengers and 846 aircraft movements last year, making it the smallest of HIAL’s 10 airports. BA franchise partner Loganair operates a scheduled air service between the island and Glasgow as a Public Service Obligation funded by the Scottish Executive. The works are programmed to avoid any interruption to the scheduled flights.

Grant Dudgeon, Infrastructure Services manager at HIAL said: “This project posed considerable logistical challenges given the location of Tiree and the amount of equipment and materials that have had to be transported to the site by sea.

“However, we have worked closely with our main contractor, consultants at Scott Wilson and local stakeholders to ensure that we have overcome these issues and to provide a deliverable programme of works.

“The resurfacing of the runway will ensure that the island can continue to benefit from its scheduled air link with Glasgow,” he said.