PLANS are on course for the destination of the world’s shortest scheduled flight to get a new airfield terminal building.
The flight between the Orkney Island and nearby Westray only lasts about one minute and thirty seconds.
The trip can be even shorter, with the record being just 53 seconds. At just 1.7 miles, the flight is recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s shortest scheduled flight.
Loganair currently runs the service using a small, eight-seater plane.
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But it could soon change, if Orkney council are successful in their plans.
Orkney Islands Council’s planning department has granted initial planning approval to the local authority’s plans for a new terminal building. Full planning permission is yet to be granted.
Drainage needs to be looked at and the council is still waiting for the planning and building warrant to be signed off. This is expected sometime in May or June. If that all comes together, work on the new terminal would begin immediately after.
The new terminal would replace the existing one which is now over 30 years old, in need of maintenance, and no longer fit for purpose.
The existing building has restricted views of the runway and “doesn’t comply with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requirements to respond to incidents of the airfield within two minutes”, a planning brief states.
All three branches of the emergency services have commented “adversely” on the fact that the old terminal doesn’t have separate watch rooms and waiting rooms. This could potentially mean that members of the public would share the room with those handling an emergency.
The brief also states that the toilets are “outdated” and there are no shower facilities for use by fire fighters to wash off contaminants or hazardous materials. The old terminal also wouldn’t be suitable for social distancing if needed.
The new building would address these issues, for example, separating its watch room from its arrivals/ departures lounge.
The new terminal also wouldn’t be built on the site of the old building. It would be on the opposite side of the airfield’s fire garage, which was built in 2015.
As part of the plans, issues with limited parking would also be remedied. Ten parking spaces, including and there would be two electric vehicle charge points. A road access and bike shelter also feature in the plans.
According to the building warrant document, the yet-to-be-decided building warrant documents, the value of the work would be £289,000.
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