Inverness Airport Port-adhair Inbhir Nis | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner/Operator | HIAL | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Inverness Highland Moray | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Dalcross, Scotland | ||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1940 | ||||||||||||||
| Focus city for | Loganair | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 31 ft / 9 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 57°32′33″N004°02′51″W / 57.54250°N 4.04750°W /57.54250; -4.04750 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  EGPE Location in Highland Council Area | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||||||
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| Sources: UKAIP atNATS[1] Statistics from theUK Civil Aviation Authority[2] | |||||||||||||||
Inverness Airport (Scottish Gaelic:Port-adhair Inbhir Nis) (IATA:INV,ICAO:EGPE) is aninternational airport situated atDalcross, Scotland, 7 NM (13 km; 8.1 mi) north-east ofInverness. It is owned byHighlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL). The airport is the main gateway for travellers to Inverness and the North of Scotland with a range of scheduled services throughout theUnited Kingdom, and few scheduled services to Europe (Amsterdam, and Mallorca in the summer). Charter and freight flights operate throughout the UK and Europe. Latest figures state 700,012 passengers passed through the airport in 2021/22.[2] The airport is also headquarters to Dalcross Handling which now operates across Scotland.
The airfield was built by theAir Ministry in 1940 asRoyal Air Force station Dalcross (RAF Dalcross), and was in use during theSecond World War.
The following units were here at some point:[3]
The airport was opened for civil operations in 1947.British European Airways, one of the predecessors ofBritish Airways, commenced flights toLondon-Heathrow in the mid-1970s using a combination ofHawker Siddeley Trident jets andVickers Viscounts. In the late 1970s and early 1980s there were two daily flights between Inverness and Heathrow; however, the route was discontinued in 1983 on the grounds of poor financial performance.Dan-Air inherited the service and offered a three-times daily service. The airline sustained the route adding links toLondon-Gatwick andManchester in the late 1980s; however, these new services proved not to be successful and were discontinued.[citation needed]
When Dan Air was bought by British Airways in 1992, theflag carrier retained the service for a further five years, adding a fourth daily frequency shortly before withdrawing the link, amid considerable controversy and public anger,[citation needed] in autumn 1997. British Airways transferred the London service to Gatwick, operated by its subsidiary on a three-times daily basis using lower capacityBAe 146 regional jets. The emergence ofEasyJet as a force in UK aviation coincided with the launch of a daily service toLondon-Luton in 1996. Other destinations and airlines were added including; (Belfast,Birmingham,Bristol,East Midlands,Leeds/Bradford,Liverpool,Manchester andNewcastle), particularly after 2003, where HIAL's marketing efforts were assisted by route development fund support from theScottish Executive. The Heathrow link was reinstated at a daily frequency in 2004 byBMI; however, the service was discontinued in March 2008, the airline citing rising costs at Heathrow as the reason.
Since 1974, Inverness has been serviced weekly by non-commercial routes withLorient (the 1st fishing port of France[19]) inSouth Brittany. The companies Air Lorient,[20] Diwan (Air Provence International) and Air Bretagne[21] ensured the transport of sailors to the advanced bases in Scotland. Since 2005,Air ITM (Groupe Intermarché) has offered repatriation and replacement of sailors with aHawker 400 jet aircraft.[22]
In 2004,Thomson Holidays launched a short series of peak season charter flights toPalma de Mallorca,Ibiza andLanzarote usingSpanair aircraft, flights to Palma were maintained (andReus was added for a couple of seasons) through to 2010.Newmarket Holidays still operates various charters from Inverness on selected dates throughout the year. In June 2017Thomson Holidays returned with peak seasonal flights toPalma once more, using a charteredAir Europa Boeing 737-800.[23]
Ryanair cut its last routes to East Midlands and Liverpool in June 2009.Eastern Airways launched services to Manchester and Birmingham. However, whenFlybe started flying the same routes in 2008, Eastern decided to withdraw.
International scheduled services proved difficult to successfully establish until the late 2000s, when a weekly seasonal service betweenDüsseldorf and Inverness commenced in summer 2009, operated byLufthansa CityLine, and in 2011 when Flybe commenced daily operations toAmsterdam. The now-defunctSnowflake (a low-cost subsidiary ofSAS) operated a twice-weekly service toStockholm in the summer of 2004, however the service was withdrawn after a short period of operation, owing to lack of demand.KLM uk operated a daily service to Amsterdam viaEdinburgh in 1997 but this was short-lived, lasting only a few months.ScotAirways launched a service to Amsterdam in 2001; however, this was withdrawn following theevents of 11 September. A four-times-weekly service toDublin was operated byAer Arann between 2006 and 2008, before being withdrawn owing to escalating fuel prices.
The airport terminal is notable as an early example of thePublic-private partnership favoured by theUK Government. HIAL was criticised for aPFI deal signed to build a new terminal at Inverness Airport. The deal signed by HIAL meant it had to pay £3.50 for every passenger flying from the airport to the PFI operator. In 2006, the PFI deal was cancelled, costing theScottish Executive £27.5 million.[24]
The airport is a hub on theHighlands and Islands network where flights between the islands, and other UK and European destinations connect.easyJet is currently the largest operator at Inverness, followed byLoganair.
The south apron, the main parking area for aircraft, was upgraded in May 2012 to improve access to the terminal by long-range aircraft.[25] In November 2013 the airport's mile long runway was resurfaced and the taxiway extended, providing a link to the site of the Inverness Airport Business Park. However, the Business Park has struggled to become established.[26]
On 3 May 2016, British Airways reinstated daily flights to Heathrow after an absence of 19 years.[27] In the same monthKLM Cityhopper launched daily flights to Amsterdam. Following the success of the route, it was increased to twice daily from March 2017.[28] From March 2018,British Airways increased their flights toHeathrow from 7 to 10 weekly.[29] Dalcross Handling, a local company, is the airline ground handler while Swissport operates the 'Aspire' business lounge in the Departure Lounge.[30]
In anticipation of the greatly increased passenger capacity,HIAL announced a major expansion of the terminal building. This consisted of expansion of the departure lounge for additional seating and retail outlets, an extension containing a new international arrivals area, and an enlarged security search area.[31]
On 13 November 2017,Loganair announced two new routes; a seasonal route toNorwich twice a week over the peak summer months, though this was scrapped[32] three months before the planned launch. A new direct year-round service toBergen was also announced. This service would operate 3 times weekly and would use the same BMI aircraft as the Manchester route, which allows same-plane service to Bergen for passengers from Manchester, along with the Inverness passengers.[33]
In July 2018, HIAL announced that it was running an online poll to gauge public response to the idea of changing the airport's name to "Inverness Loch Ness Airport" to help boost tourism.[34] However the public rejected the name change with 88% of those surveyed against it.[35]
A planning permission application was lodged for a 130-room development to be built at the Inverness Airport Business Park, near to the airport, that could provide hotel facilities.[36] Construction commenced in January 2019, with theCourtyard by Marriott hotel finally opening in March 2020.[37]
In 2021, HIAL released a master plan for development of the airport up to the year 2045. Plans include extending runway 05/23 by 323 metres (1,060 ft) and construction of a new passenger terminal adjacent to the then proposedInverness Airport railway station.[38]
Highlands and Islands Airports have proposed the rebuilding of the terminal to accommodate a projected increase in passenger numbers to 1.8 million by 2045. The most expensive option, priced at between £34 and £55 million, would involve relocating the terminal buildings such that they are adjacent to the plannedDalcross railway station. An alternative proposal would see the existing terminal extended at a cost of £19 to £31 million.[39] TheScottish Greens criticised the proposals, suggesting that the existing airport was adequate and that money should be invested in improving rail and bus links in the region instead.[40]
The following airlines operate regular scheduled flights to and from Inverness:[41][42]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Dublin (begins 21 May 2026)[43] |
| airBaltic | Seasonal charter:Gran Canaria (begins 17 February 2026)[44] |
| British Airways | London–Heathrow[45] |
| easyJet | Birmingham (begins 30 March 2026),[46]Bristol,[47]London–Gatwick,[48]London–Luton[48] |
| KLM | Amsterdam[49] |
| Loganair | Belfast–City,[50]Kirkwall,[51]Manchester,[52]Stornoway,[citation needed]Sumburgh[51] |
| TUI Airways | Seasonal:Palma de Mallorca[53] |
Inverness Airport had 796,408 passengers in 2024, which was a decrease of 0.6% from 2023. Gatwick Airport was again the most popular destination with 222,417 passengers. This route accounts for around 28 percent of all passenger traffic at Inverness Airport, with all London routes combined accounting for over 65 percent of passenger traffic. Shown below are the top ten destinations in 2024.
| Rank | Destination | Passengers | Change 2023 / 24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London-Gatwick | 222,417 |  0.2% |
| 2 | London-Heathrow | 160,215 |  0.8% |
| 3 | London-Luton | 141,193 | 6% |
| 4 | Amsterdam | 99,906 | 22% |
| 5 | Bristol | 92,198 | 10% |
| 6 | Manchester | 28,079 | 4% |
| 7 | Stornoway | 15,703 | 29% |
| 8 | Sumburgh | 15,207 | 21% |
| 9 | Belfast-City | 15,174 | 16% |
| 10 | Palma de Mallorca | 2,947 | 64% |
| Source:CAA Statistics[54] | |||
Bus services operate between Inverness Airport, Inverness,Nairn andElgin. Stagecoach in Inverness run between the airport and Inverness city centre close to therailway station.[55]
Inverness Airport Railway Station on theAberdeen-Inverness line opened on 2 February 2023 and serves the airport with a half-hourly bus connecting the two.
Anew station at the airport was first approved in February 2017.[56] In May 2021Highland Council grantedplanning permission toNetwork Rail for a new two-platform station at the airport, but expressed reservations as alevel crossing would be replaced with a bridge inaccessible to disabled people. One councillor, who noted the new bridge clashed withTransport Scotland guidance, described it as "low-quality infrastructure" and said it was "deeply shocking that we are getting infrastructure like that still [being] built."[57]
The airport is 7 NM (13 km; 8.1 mi) northeast[1] of the city of Inverness just off the mainA96 Aberdeen-Inverness trunk road.
Access from the A96 was previously by a single track road (suitable only for smaller vehicles) or alternatively by the B9093 Ardersier road. When the airport installed the newinstrument landing system, the single track road had to be closed altogether. In April 2006 a new road, Inverness Airport Way, was opened providing full access to all vehicles from the airport direct to the A96. However most traffic still uses the old Ardersier road as it is far quicker. The new road skirts the western perimeter of the airport in a large loop and is provided with 'wig-wag' signals if road traffic needs to be stopped during aircraft landing/take off.
Taxis are available directly in front of the terminal building.
This museum was situated in the Dalcross Industrial Estate immediately adjacent to the airport. It had 3 full aircraft (Hawker Hunter F.1WT660,Blackburn Buccaneer S1XK532 andPanavia Tornado GR1ZA362) and several aircraft noses on display includingNimrodXV254. The museum was open to the public at weekends and bank holidays. Permanently closed from October 2019 with the aircraft sold on,XK532 remains on site with a more recent addition ofJet Provost T5AXW375.
Media related toInverness Airport at Wikimedia Commons
