Getting from Barra Airport to the city

The beach runway

• Barra is the only airport in the world where scheduled flights use a tidal beach as the runway. That is HIAL's own description and it is not marketing.
• The schedule is governed by the ebb and flow of the tide. A flight is timed to when the sand is exposed and firm.
• Published opening hours: Monday to Saturday 10:30 to 15:30, Sunday 11:00 to 12:15, "subject to tides".
• So the hours above are a guide, not a timetable. Check your flight on the day, and expect it to sit at a different hour from one week to the next.
• Two flights a day to and from Glasgow. The airport has operated since 1974.

Walking on the runway

• When the airport is closed and the windsocks are down, members of the public are free to walk on the runways, which revert to a public beach used by surfers, dog walkers and families.
• The windsocks are the signal. When they are up, it is an active airfield.

Getting to and from it

• The airport is at Eoligarry, Isle of Barra, HS9 5YD, in the wide shallow bay of Traigh Mhor at the island's northern tip.
• The public bus is operated by Aurora Trans Co on behalf of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, on 07572 841577. Timetables are on the council's site.
• Taxis must be pre-booked, through Asty's Taxi (01871 810 463 or 07957 280 392), Campbell's Taxi (07837 603 321) or Cursty Peggi Taxi (07531 352 767).
• Castlebay, the main village and the ferry port for Oban, is at the southern end of the island, so getting there from Eoligarry is a proper drive rather than a hop.