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Unst Airport

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8-531: Unst Airport also called Baltasound Airport is an unlicensed airfield near Baltasound , on the island of Unst , Shetland Islands , Scotland. The airfield has effectively been mothballed since 1996 and is now only used by the emergency services. Unst Airport is the most northerly airfield in the United Kingdom. Unst Airport opened in August 1968 although its official opening happened in 1970. The airport

16-516: A subpolar climate ( Köppen : Cfb and Cfc , respectively), with winters that are mild for the latitude, and short, cool summers. Precipitation is abundant and occurs year-round. Baltasound holds the record for the highest temperature recorded in the Shetland Islands: 25.0 °C (77.0 °F) on 2 July 1958. It also possibly holds the record for the lowest Shetland temperature: −11.9 °C (10.6 °F) on 5 February 2001. During

24-581: A space balloon has been launched from it. Baltasound Baltasound (or Baltasund ) is the largest settlement on the island of Unst in Shetland , Scotland. It comes from the Old Norse man's name Balti (Baltisund) . Unst is the most northerly inhabited island in the United Kingdom . The village lies halfway along the island's east coast on a sheltered bay called Balta Sound . Baltasound

32-518: Is only used by the emergency services for occasional Air Ambulance flights. There are no scheduled flights operating from Unst Airport. In 2013 it was reported that the American oil giant Chevron was looking into the possibility of re-opening the airport for use with the Rosebank oil and gas field . The Shetland Space Centre intends to incorporate it into a local space industry hub, and in 2019

40-549: The Chromate industry on the island. Although the railway did not operate a passenger service, it helped the village economically and financially. Like other narrow gauge railways in the Shetland Islands, it did not survive. Baltasound is home to the most northerly Met Office weather station in the United Kingdom. Similar to fellow Shetland station Lerwick , Baltasound experiences a cool oceanic climate that borders

48-684: The house by the elder Thomas Edmondston commemorates scientific studies undertaken there by the French physicist Jean-Baptiste Biot . Baltasound can also lay claim to the most northerly "wood" in the British Isles, although it is not very substantial. Many of Baltasound's current amenities hold the record for the most northerly in the UK: A 2 foot 6 inch gauge railway was built from the Chromite quarries at Hagdale to Baltasound in 1907 to boost

56-571: Was built by the 15 Field Squadron (Search) RE of the Royal Engineers . In 1996 the oil rig operators decided to concentrate their resources at Scatsta Airport on the Shetland Mainland . The last scheduled flights to the airport were withdrawn on March 29, 1996, and the airport was mothballed. After the airport was mothballed the airport's control tower and terminal building were subsequently demolished. Currently Unst Airport

64-488: Was formerly the most important herring port in Shetland. In 1902 its catch exceeded that of the Shetland capital Lerwick . The herring trade declined rapidly after 1905 but the physical remains of the herring boom remained long after. Baltasound was the home of the noted Victorian botanist Thomas Edmondston , who was born at Buness House where his uncle, also called Thomas, was the laird. A memorial stone erected outside

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