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Wick Airport

Coordinates: 58°27′32″N 003°05′35″W / 58.45889°N 3.09306°W / 58.45889; -3.09306
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"EGPC" redirects here. For the Egyptian national oil company, see Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

Wick Airport
Wick Airport terminal
Summary
Airport typePrivate
Owner/OperatorHighlands and Islands Airports Limited
ServesWick, Highland
LocationWick, Highland
Elevation AMSL126 ft / 38 m
Coordinates58°27′32″N 003°05′35″W / 58.45889°N 3.09306°W / 58.45889; -3.09306
WebsiteWick Airport
Map
EGPC is located in Highland
EGPC
EGPC
Location in Highland
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13/31 1,825 5,988 Grooved Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers25,484
Passenger change 14–15Decrease9.5%
Aircraft Movements4,726
Movements change 13–14Decrease17.2%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1]
Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority[2]

Wick Airport (IATA: WIC, ICAO: EGPC) is located 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) north of the town of Wick in Caithness at the north-eastern extremity of the mainland of Scotland. It is owned and maintained by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited.

The airport provides air travel connections for Caithness, with scheduled services to Aberdeen Airport and Edinburgh Airport. It is also regularly used by helicopters servicing local offshore oil operations, and as a stop-over by light aircraft ferry flights between Europe and North America via Iceland.

The airport is marketed as Wick John O' Groats by FlyBe, which operates a daily service (excluding Saturdays) to Edinburgh, using its franchise partner Loganair.

History

Wick was originally a grass airfield, used by Captain E. E. Fresson's Highland Airways Ltd. (later Scottish Airways Ltd.) from 1933 until 1939.

RAF Wick

Requisitioned by the Air Ministry during World War II, the airfield was extended with hard runways, hangars, and other buildings. The airfield was administered by No. 18 Group, RAF Coastal Command. A satellite airfield existed at RAF Skitten.

On 21 May 1941, a photographic reconnaissance Supermarine Spitfire piloted by Flying Officer Michael F. Suckling took off from Wick, and flew to Norway, in search of the German battleship Bismarck. If Bismarck was to break out into the North Atlantic, she would present a significant risk to the ships supplying Britain. 320 miles to the east of Wick, F/O Suckling found and photographed her, hiding in Grimstadfjord.[3] This information enabled the Royal Navy to order HMS Hood and other ships, as well as aircraft, to take positions intended to track Bismarck, and prevent her from entering the North Atlantic. In ensuing battles, Hood was sunk, and, later, Bismarck. German battleships and battle cruisers never again entered the North Atlantic.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Eastern AirwaysAberdeen
Flybe
operated by Loganair		Edinburgh (ends 31 August 2017)
Loganair Edinburgh (begins 1 September 2017)[4]

Statistics

Busiest routes to and from Wick Airport in 2015[2]
Rank Airport Passengers handled 2014-2015 Change
1  United Kingdom - Aberdeen Airport 12,774 Decrease11.1%
2  United Kingdom - Edinburgh Airport 11,067 Decrease5.6%

References

  1. ^ Wick - EGPC
  2. ^ a b UK Airport Statistics: 2015 - annual
  3. ^ Conyers, Roy (2003). Eyes of the RAF. Sutton Publishing. p. 118. ISBN 0750932562.
  4. ^ http://www.loganair.co.uk/loganair/press-office/256/scotland%26%23039%3bs-airline-spreads-its-wings
  • Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force. Tonbridge, Kent: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1980. ISBN 0-85130-083-9.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wick Airport.
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