RAF Machrihanish

Machrihanish Airbase MoD Machrihanish, RAF Machrihanish Campbeltown Airport Port-adhair Ceann Loch
Control Tower
IATA: CAL ICAO: EGEC
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Machrihanish Airbase Community Company
Operator	MACC Developments Ltd. (former airbase) HIAL(public airport)
Serves	Campbeltown
Location	Kintyre, Scotland
Elevation AMSL	42 ft / 13 m
Coordinates	55°26′15″N 005°41′17″W / 55.43750°N 5.68806°W / 55.43750; -5.68806Coordinates: 55°26′15″N 005°41′17″W / 55.43750°N 5.68806°W / 55.43750; -5.68806
Website	Machrihanish Airbase Community Company
Map
EGEC Location in Argyll and Bute
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 11/29 1,750 5,741 Asphalt
Statistics (2007)
Movements 3,674 Passengers 9,181
Sources: UK AIP at NATS Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority

RAF Machrihanish is a former Royal Air Force station located 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) west of Campbeltown at the tip of Kintyre. In May, 2012, the site was sold for £1 to a local consortium, Machrihanish Airbase Community Company (MACC) who now operate the site as a commercial business park. It also incorporates Campbeltown Airport which has commercial flights to Glasgow, operated by Loganair.

The United States maintained a Navy SEAL commando unit, a 20-person team known as Naval Special Warfare Detachment 1 (The other overseas Naval Special Warfare Detachments, 2 and 3 were based at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, and Subic Bay, Philippines) at the airfield and the Royal Marines occasionally use the facility for training exercises. The civilian airport is located at the opposite end of the station from the hangars, bunkers and the SEAL building.

During the Cold War, Machrihanish was a strategically important North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) airfield, with its location giving immediate access to patrol & support naval operation over the North Atlantic. It was also valuable as a stopping point for transatlantic military flights.

At 3,049 m (10,003 ft), the original runway 11/29 at Campbeltown Airport was the longest of any public airport in Scotland. It was built between 1960 and 1962 as part of a major reconstruction for the airport's role in NATO. It was certified to accept NASA's Space Shuttle should it have needed to make an emergency landing in Europe.

An answer to the House of Commons in 2004 reveals that the airfield was handed over by the United States Navy back to Ministry of Defence control on 30 June 1995.