Meet the Skye fliers who arrived from Germany

The skies over the Isle of Skye were busier than normal recently when the island’s aerodrome hosted seven visiting aircraft from Germany.

The aircraft landed as part of an organised trip arranged by Thomas Borchert, Editor-in-chief Aviation from Aero International, a monthly magazine for civil aviation based in Germany.

Thomas said: ‘The visit to Skye was a major highlight of our tour through Scotland. The scenery is spectacular, as is the friendliness of the people.

‘For private pilots, beautiful but remote locations like Skye and other parts of the Highlands are of special interest if they can be easily accessed via an airfield.’

The aircraft types were Cessna 172, Piper Warrior, Piper Arrow, Cirrus SR22T, Cessna 210, Piper Seneca, and Quest Kodiak. The Quest Kodiak was the heaviest aircraft at just over three tonnes.

The seven German planes arrive on Skye (Photo: Fliegermagazin)

Arrangements for the visit followed an exchange of emails with the Transport Planning Manager at Highland Council.

Once clarification was reached that the apron areas were capable of holding all of the aircraft without interference to the heli-pad area used for search and rescue helicopters the Prior Permission Required (PPR) was approved.

The pilots and passengers were taken to their hotel by local taxi operators. The aircraft departed mid-morning on Saturday.

The German planes arrive on Skye (Photo: Fliegermagazin)

Richard Gerring, the Highland Council’s transport planning manager met the visitors at Ashaig Aerodrome following his earlier meeting at the Aerodrome with representatives from Skye Flying Club.

He said: ‘This visit from these European aircraft is evidence that Skye Airfield is open for business and can handle a broad range of general aviation. The runway lighting at the airfield proved its worth on Friday during periods of very heavy rain.’

Chair of the Isle of Skye and Raasay committee Councillor John Gordon added: ‘It is great to see private aircraft using the superb asset that we have on the Isle of Skye. The mix of aircraft that came on Friday shows that the airfield is capable of handling general aviation users from beyond Scotland.’