Located in Dyce, a suburb of Aberdeen, the Aberdeen International Airport is just about 5.8 miles from the center of the city of Aberdeen. It originally opened in 1934 but did not become a major point of activity for flights until 1967 with the discovery of oil off shore. Since then many flights have come in and out of this airport connecting the mainland to the North Sea oil rigs. The airport was first opened to help connect the northern islands with London.
During the WWII years, the military took it over as a Royal Air Force base with fighters assigned there to help protect its shores because of the close proximity of the German?s who occupied Norway. Even with the fighters located there; this base was strictly used for photographic reconnaissance. Its major contribution to the war occurred in May of 1943 when the crew of a German bomber decided to defect to the Allies and landed their fighter plane with the newest German radar system on board. Today this aircraft is housed in the RAF Museum. In honor of the RAF military who served at this airport a war memorial was unveiled in 2009 the same year they celebrated their 75th anniversary. The airport itself became nationalized in 1947 and is now under the control of the British Airports Authority.
The abundance of helicopters that have gone in and out of the Aberdeen Airport since 1967 has increased more and more over the years with the need to keep the oil rigs connected to the mainland. This has caused the city of Aberdeen to become the center of the oil industry in Europe and also made the airport the world?s largest heliport for commercial purposes with more than half the flights in and out being in a helicopter. As time passed the airport has continued to get busier and busier resulting in a need for enlargement which is continuing today with future plans for larger runways.
For convenience to passengers traveling into Aberdeen Airport shuttle service is available to and from the Dyce railway station for those continuing on to other locations beyond the nearby city. The airport supplies many services designed to benefit the traveler, from internet to car rental, all evidence to the growing size and the increase in traffic through the terminal.
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