Sumburgh Links was surveyed and the grass strips laid out by Captain E. E. Fresson of Highland Airways in 1936: the airport was opened on 3 June of that year with the inaugural flight from Aberdeen by the De Havilland Dragon Rapide G-ACPN piloted by Fresson himself. It was also one of the first airfields to have RDF facilities, due to the frequency of low cloud and fog and the proximity of Sumburgh Head. The runways were built at the instigation of Capt. Fresson, who had proved to the Navy at Hatston that to maintain all-round landing facilities over the winter months runways were essential. This was taken up by the RAF after the obvious success of the Hatston experiment. The former RAF Sumburgh airfield had three runways, two of which, although extended, remain in use by the present airport. The longest was originally, and the shorter ran for from shoreline to shoreline. No. 404 Squadron operated Beaufighter Mark VI and X aircraft from this station on coastal raids against Axis shipping off the coast of Norway and in the North Sea. The airport is unusual in that it has a helicopterrunway as opposed to usual helipad. The western end of runway 09/27 crosses the A970 road between Sumburgh and the northern mainland; access is controlled by a level crossing with barriers closed whenever a flight is taking off or landing.
The road distance is to Lerwick. There is a regular airport bus service that takes passengers there.
Statistics
Incidents and accidents
31 July 1979: Crash of Dan-Air Flight 0034, a Hawker Siddeley 748 series 1 operating an oil industry support flight. The aircraft failed to become airborne and crashed into the sea. The accident was due to the elevator gust-lock having become re-engaged, preventing the aircraft from rotating into a flying attitude. The aircraft was destroyed and 17 people died.
29 March 1981: Potez 840 F-BMCY operated by Club Aéronautique de Paris made a wheels-up landing at Sumburgh. Damage was minimal and the aircraft was parked on a stand for many months. The four Astazou engines and other useful parts were removed and the airframe dragged off to a quiet corner of the airfield to be abandoned. When the runway was extended it was saved and now resides in a private garden in North Roe in the north of Shetland. Only 8 Potez 840s were built.
11 June 2006UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch recommended a safety audit of City Star Airlines after a serious incident in which a Dornier 328 crew flew close to cliffs and failed to respond correctly to terrain warnings on approach to Sumburgh Airport after a flight from Aberdeen. The aircraft landed safely. The captain involved was suspended and asked to resign after an investigation.
23 August 2013: A Super Puma AS332 L2, operated by CHC for Total, carrying 16 passengers and 2 crew from the Borgsten Dolphin oil platform, crashed about west of the airport at 18:17 BST. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch identified the lack of effective monitoring of flight instruments as a cause of the crash. Four of those aboard were killed.
