Airport History

An airport with a military past and a space age future 

Campbeltown Airport is located at Machrihanish, 3.5 miles west of Campbeltown, near the tip of the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland. At the height of operations the airport runway, at 3,049 m, was the longest in Scotland – a hangover from its days as RAF Machrihanish, which hosted UK military and NATO base operations until 1997. The current runway is 1,412m. 

Two airfields known as Machrihanish, named for the local village, have existed; the first was operational during the First World War for the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force. The site extended to 65 acres covered with timber and canvas Bessonneau hangars and Armstrong huts.  

On 18 April 1933, the first scheduled flight in Scotland touched down at Campbeltown Airport, piloted by Johnny Rae and Jimmy Orrell for Midland & Scottish Air Ferries. The airfield transferred to civil use with scheduled flights to the nearby island of Islay, Renfrew - now Glasgow Airport, and Belfast.  

The airfield was requisitioned by the Fleet Air Arm in 1940, and the following year became known as RNAS Machrihanish or HMS Landrail.   A second airfield was constructed to the north-west of the original location. This opened on 15 June 1941 and was initially known as RNAS Stabane, later taking on the names of the original airfield.  During the Second World War, the new airfield was used for training and as a base for squadrons disembarking from aircraft carriers, and it became one of the UK's top three busiest stations for operational anti-submarine patrols and convoy escort duties.  The first airfield closed at the end of the war. 

In the early 1950s, the airfield was used for several years as a satellite of HMS Sanderling, now Glasgow Airport, and, for a short period, it was used to train Fleet Air Arm pilots for the Korean War.  

During the 1960s, the airfield was developed to become an RAF station and hosted the US Marine Corps, expanding the site and the four existing runways were replaced by a new 3,049m runway to allow Avro Vulcan bombers and other large aircraft to land. Ownership of the airfield passed from the Admiralty to the Air Ministry in May 1963.  

Due to its strategic location near the Irish Sea, it was a key part of efforts to protect the Firth of Clyde, as well as protection for the Royal Navy Trident missile submarines which, are still based at HMNB Clyde, more commonly known as Faslane Naval Base. 

During the next few decades, the airfield was used for a range of US military operations and hosted the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Group (EOD) detachment who were part of the Atlantic Fleet. In March 1968, the Naval Aviation Weapons Facility Machrihanish (NAWF) was opened to “receive, store, maintain, issue and tranship classified weapons in support of the US Navy and NATO operations”.  

In 1974, a detachment of US Marine Corps took over the role of security and then in the early 1980s, teams from the US Navy Seals arrived, with development taking place on the site again to accommodate their operations including a parachute drying tower, armoury and internal firing range. A separate building was also constructed to provide direct vehicle access from transport aircraft.  

Following the end of the Cold War, US military forces here were scaled back, and the US Navy handed the airfield back to the MoD on 30 June 1995, marking the end of its service as a NATO facility since 1960. It was then renamed MOD Machrihanish and was mothballed, occasionally used for military ground and air exercises.  

An interesting fact was that from 1981 the airfield was certified as a potential emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle in case of the need for a mid-ocean abort of the flight.  

With the airfield no longer required for the military, it was put up for sale and was purchased for £1 from the MOD by Machrihanish Airbase Community Company (MACC) in May 2012. It now runs as a business park with support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the Scottish Government and Argyll & Bute Council. Parts of the site have been made available for commercial use with the aim of creating a sustainable future for the area.  

In March 1996, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) granted Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) an aerodrome licence for commercial flights, and it became known as Campbeltown Airport.  

Scheduled flights to Glasgow are provided by Loganair from Campbeltown Airport, as well as supporting emergency and medical flights for the local community. In 2021, a £4 million investment project to refurbish the runway took place. This protected the future of the airport to support medical, lifeline and emergency services.   

Lorna Bell, the current Airport Manager at Campbeltown, moved to the military base, at age 11 with her family, when her father was posted in as the Ground Radio SNCO. “I remember being part of the RAF community here with the hundreds of other military personnel and their families living and working there – it was an exciting time for me as a child.” 

After studying in Edinburgh, Lorna joined the RAF as a Flight Operations Officer. Throughout her career, she was stationed at Lossiemouth, Kinloss, Northern Ireland, Benson and Cyprus, supporting fast-jet, helicopter and maritime operations. She also deployed world-wide in support of operations in flight operations co-ordination roles. She retired as Squadron Leader in 2023 and returned to Campbeltown to take up the role of Airport Manager for HIAL. “I love being back here working at the airport and being part of the local community. We are a close-knit team, working together to support the lifeline services as well as helping to provide connectivity to Scotland and further afield.” 

Looking forward, the MACC Business Park, which includes Campbeltown Airport, was recently shortlisted as one of two locations in the UK by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the INVICTUS hypersonic test programme. This ground-breaking new programme aims to deliver hypersonic test capability not currently available in Europe with the potential to make spaceplanes possible.   

“The area has great ambitions for the future and a strong community and business network working together to bring new companies and visitors to the area. I am proud to be part of these plans, not just as Airport Manager, but also as a local person who loves this beautiful location.”