Civil Airfield Barra (EGPR)

Barra - ‘the airfield on the sands’ - is one of those fields one likes to have in one’s logbook. Unique in the British Isles (possibly in the world).

It has though NO FUEL; NO Procedures for GA (see comment below); therefore VFR only; and (normally) NO OVERNIGHT PARKING.

Because the field is Tidal one must negotiate one’s ETA PPR with the local FISO well in advance. They would prefer you to land and Take-Off at least 15 minutes either side of the Loganair twice Daily flights. In fact, their timetable is useful for pre-planning since you then don't need to work out the tides! https://booking.loganair.co.uk/VARS/Public/FlightScheduleReport.aspx?VARSSessionID=7719f633-8a0c-495a-af41-86cc9a590bfa&fromdate=05/Sep/2025&todate=06/Sep/2025&deptcty=GLA&arrcty=BRR&lang=EN

Landing: Although there are two RNP Approaches to their three runways, they are restricted to ’Commercial use only’. There is though nothing to stop you using them for ‘guidance’ especially as most Landings are Straight In. Although the runways are marked by a post at the sea end and a Marker Board at the Land End, these are hard to spot if not familiar with the field. I, therefore, used the Procedure and Landed slightly long since it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between sea-end and standing water. I kept power on since the sand & puddles can slow one down. Likewise, on Departure one should do one’s checks at Land end since in Backtracking one should continue rolling since if too slow one could ‘sink’ at the sea end!

Parking: Normally, Overnight Parking is not allowed; although with careful pre-negotiation arrangements can be made to pull the plane above High Water Level. [There is a new small ramp being built, so limited parking might be available in the future.]. Although I was going to Walk the Hebridean Way https://www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk/hebrideanway/walking I had been asked to ‘work’ on the Sunday Morning to allow the local priest to have a holiday. Accordingly, everyone on the island knew I was coming - including the firemen - who made arrangements for me to park on their (only) slipway! They also kindly hosed the undercarriage down: a MUST at your next point of call if you visit Barra.

Fees: I paid £25 for landing but because parking is not allowed there was no published fee for four days parking so they allowed me to stay for free!

Accommodation & Taxis;. If Walking or Staying on the Island, beds are hard to find, especially in the summer if not pre-booked. I stayed at The Castlebay Hotel. https://www.castlebayhotel.com/ Likewise taxis are rare, so one must carefully study the Local bus timetable which connects with the airfield thrice daily (except Sunday). Taxis #’s are: Campbell’s 01871 810216; BarraTaxi 01871 810012 & 07974 071255; Brevig Taxi 07807 279954; Dan Taxi 07807 526134..

Extraordinarily, quite close to the Caslebay Hotel is Café Kisimul https://www.cafekisimul.co.uk/ a well-reviewed Indian Restaurant! serving a local total population of 1,200 people; but now, sadly, up for sale.