Airports

The construction and operation of airports in Scotland has been undertaken by private individuals, commercial companies, the Royal Air Force (and its predecessor the Royal Flying Corps), and by a few local authorities. This Knowledge Base entry concentrates on the local authority involvement in airports.

Some small aerodromes were built during the First World War, including Renfrew aerodrome where the cost of construction became subject to a Court of Session case in 1921.[1] During the 1920s and 1930s the Air Ministry, responsible for both the RAF and civil aviation, encouraged local authorities to build aerodromes. In 1927 Glasgow Corporation set up a sub-committee of the General Finance Committee to consider the proposal to establish a municipal aerodrome.[2] Dundee decided not to have an airport in 1932.[3] Perth Town Council negotiated the purchase of land at Scone for an aerodrome in 1934.[4]

Most civilian airports were taken over by the RAF during the Second World War. In 1945, however, a new Ministry of Civil Aviation was set up to encourage the design and development of civilian planes and airports.[5] The Civil Aviation Act 1949 enabled local authorities to build aerodromes.[6] Glasgow Corporation used these powers in 1963 when they made an agreement in 1963 with the Ministry of Aviation to buy the Royal Naval Air Station at Abbotsinch and to share the cost of constructing the new airport with the Ministry.[7] Glasgow Airport was opened in 1966, with a passenger terminal designed by Sir Basil Spence. Dundee Corporation applied to operate Dundee Airport in 1962. The airports which developed at Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Wick and elsewhere were operated commercially from the outset and the relevant local authorities did not exercise their powers under the Civil Aviation Act 1949.

The Airports Authority Act 1965 established the British Airports Authority (BAA) as a public authority and transferred Heathrow, Stanstead, Gatwick and Prestwick airports from the Minister of Aviation to the BAA.[8] By 1975 BAA had also acquired Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports.[9] It was required to consult with the local authorities in whose area an airport was located, and local authorities were enabled to stop aircraft from taking off in connection with their public health duties to prevent the spread of diseases.

In 1975 local authority powers to build airports were limited to regional and islands councils and then transferred to unitary councils in 1996.[10] Dundee Airport was transferred to Tayside Regional Council in 1975 and then to Dundee City Council in 1996. BAA was privatised by the Airports Act 1986, which also empowered the Secretary of State to require local authorities to form companies to operate their airports as commercial undertakings.[11] Also in 1986 the Civil Aviation Authority set up Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) which transferred to the Secretary of State for Scotland in 1995 and then to Scottish Ministers on devolution in 1999. HIAL took over Dundee Airport in 2007 and therefore no Scottish local authority now operates an airport.

Records relating to airports will be found in records of the government bodies responsible for regulating civil aviation at The National Archives in London, as well as the minutes and records of the relevant local authorities and other airport operators.

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2021)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Public transport

Harbours

Ferries

References

[1] ‘Renfrew Aerodrome. Air Council’s £50,000 claim’ Dundee Evening Telegraph 12 Jan 1921 p.6

[2] ‘Municipal Aerodrome’, Scotsman, 29 August 1927 p.2

[3] ‘Dundee Airport Project,’ Dundee Courier, 18 November 1932 p.6

[4] ‘Perth Civic Aerodrome’, Dundee Courier 20 July 1934 p.3

[5] Ministry of Civil Aviation Act 1945 (8 & 9 Geo. VI c.21)

[6] Civil Aviation Act 1949 (12, 13 & 14 Geo. VI c.67)