Perth Airport, Scotland

Perth Airport (IATA: PSL, ICAO: EGPT) is a general aviation airport located at New Scone, 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) northeast[1] of Perth, Scotland. The airport is used by private and business aircraft, and for pilot training. There are no commercial scheduled flights from the airport.

For the Australian airports, see Perth Airport and Scone Airport.

Perth Airport

Perth (Scone) Airport
Perth Airport from the air, looking northeast
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerMorris Leslie Limited
OperatorACS Aviation Ltd
ServesPerth, Scotland
Elevation AMSL397 ft / 121 m
Coordinates56°26′28″N 003°22′26″W
Websitewww.perthairport.co.uk/
Map
EGPT
Location in Perth and Kinross
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03/21 853 2,799 Asphalt
09/27 609 1,998 Asphalt
15/33 620 2,034 Grass
Sources: UK AIP at NATS[1]

Perth Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P823) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Morris Leslie Limited).[2]

The airport is owned by Morris Leslie Limited and operated (daily from 09:00 to 17:00) by ACS Aviation Ltd.[1]

History
A British Aerospace Jetstream arrives to be used as an instructional airframe by AST. In the background is the original hangar 1, which dates back to the 1930s.

The airport opened in 1936 as Scone Aerodrome. A flight training school, training military pilots, was established shortly after the airport was opened.[3]

Immediately after the start of the war, researchers working on aircraft-mounted radars were stationed at Scone for a brief period, fitting their radar systems to various aircraft. The site was unsuitable for such work, and the team moved to a new site in Wales in November. During the war 309[4] and 666 Squadrons from the Royal Air Force used the aerodrome.[5]

The only scheduled commercial flights operated briefly from Perth were a British Airways service to Stavanger in Norway at the beginning of the Second World War, and a post-war BEA service to Glasgow's Renfrew airport. The airport was subsequently bought by Airwork Services, which continued the long tradition of pilot training at Perth.[6]

By 1960 Airwork acquired Air Service Training (AST), an engineering training school, which it relocated from the south of England to the airport. The whole operation took on the AST name. AST gained a worldwide reputation for aviation training, being known as Britain's Air University. Students of more than 100 countries have been trained at Perth. Following a worldwide downturn in aviation, AST pulled out of pilot training in 1996. A year later the site was bought by Morris Leslie Ltd.[7]

Perth Airport remains Scotland's main airport for general aviation and is the base of the Scottish Aero Club, which was founded in 1927. The airport is home to flight training organisations providing private and commercial flight training, as well as micro light and autogyro training. Also on site is an aircraft maintenance company, ACS Engineering, and numerous other non-aviation-related businesses.[6]

AST, which is now part of Perth College, retains a presence at the airport and continues to offer aeronautical engineering courses.[8] In 2011, AST announced a returned to airline pilot training.[7][9]

Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) was formed in 2012 and launched a helicopter air ambulance in May 2013 to assist the Scottish Air Ambulance Service (SAAS) to deliver front-line care to time-critical emergencies across Scotland. SCAA provides a fully equipped medical helicopter that can be deployed from its central base at Perth Airport to incidents across the length and breadth of Scotland.[10]

In February 2019, the airport was reported to be looking into the possibility of attracting low-cost carriers such as Easyjet and Ryanair for scheduled passenger flights,[11] though ACS Aviation subsequently denied having any such plans.[12] Perth does not have the approach procedures required[11] and its runway, at 850m in length, is not long enough to accommodate commercial jet aircraft, which typically require a minimum of 1700m in order to land and take off.

Perth Airport Air Traffic Control Tower.

References

Citations
  1. Perth/Scone - EGPT
  2. Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences
  3. "From world wars to Bond movies, the flying school at Scone Aerodrome's rich history is no flight of fancy". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  4. Jefford 1988, p. 85.
  5. Jefford 1988, p. 104.
  6. "Perth II (Scone) - Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust UK".
  7. "Our History - Our Story". Morris Leslie. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. Tayfusion. "Perth Airport Campus". www.airservicetraining.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  9. "Scone History". Scone CC. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  10. "Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance".
  11. Black, Andrew (25 February 2019). "Small airport considers passenger flights". BBC Scotland.
  12. Dickie, Douglas (1 March 2019). "ACS Aviation denies any plans for commercial flights". Daily Record.

Bibliography
  • Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
  • Allan, James (2002). Wings Over Scotland. Tervor. ISBN 0-9538191-1-6
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