Benbecula Airport

Benbecula has a long military history.

An airfield to the north, built during World War II, became the control centre for the Hebrides rocket range, established during the Cold War and is now Benbecula Airport.

The original South Ford Bridge was built in 1942 to connect Benbecula’s wartime RAF base to the steamer port at Lochboisdale in South Uist and was replaced by the current causeway in 1982. An army base was established there in 1958 and is one of the main employers on the island as it is the headquarters for those who service the South Uist missile testing range.

The airport was upgraded during 2001 and early 2002 in preparation for the Eurofighter Typhoon test programme. During the tests in April 2002, the £16 billion aircraft fired an Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile on the Hebrides test range, the first of this type of missile to be fired from a Eurofighter.

More information on visiting the area can be found here.