When you arrive at Barra Airport, you don’t have to wade through security and baggage reclaim before finally hitting the beach. Why? Because you land on one. It’s the only airport in the world where scheduled flights land and take off from the beach.
![[View of an aircraft taxiing across the beach after landing at Barra Airport. (Photo by: Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234912907-6170.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
But don’t pack your bikini just yet. Barra Airport is located on the Isle of Barra in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, where peak summer temperatures hit just 16C. There are actually three runways at Barra, each marked by a wooden pole. At high tide twice a day, they’re all submerged by the sea, so flight times vary depending on when the tide comes in and out.
![[Plane taxiing ready for take-off from Barra Airport. barra, outer hebrides, scotland, september 28 2019; Shutterstock ID 1652996974; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234912729-6270.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
And, there’s no long walk through the airport once you get off the plane. You step straight onto the sand. The airport only has one domestic flight destination though – a one hour and 10 minute flight to Glasgow. Flights operated by Logan Air operate daily.
![[Airplane Landing on Beach Scotland]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-1192784120.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=509)
And while nervous passengers might shudder at the thought of landing on a beach, it actually makes for a pretty smooth landing. Did YOU know that Barra’s airport is the only airport in the world to have scheduled flights landing on the beach?! 🌊 📍Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides #VisitScotland #ScottishTikTok #ScotlandIsCalling #Scotland #TravelTikTok.
![[Isle of Barra. Outer Hebrides. Scotland. June. 7. 2019. Eoligarry Airport worlds only beach airport runway sign.; Shutterstock ID 1452250391; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234912895-3fa9.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Speaking to YouTuber Tom Scott, airport manager Michael Galbraith explained: ‘The beach itself is actually a good surface. ‘Nine times out of 10, passengers don’t really feel that they’ve actually touched down, because the wheel gets absorbed into the sand so you don’t get that initial hard thud and skid.’.
![[Passangers prepairing to board the aircraft, Barra Airport. barra, outer hebrides, scotland, september 28 2019; Shutterstock ID 1652996371; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234912730-c879.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
