Potential use of Skye's Ashaig airstrip re-examined

The strip remains available to the emergency services and the military

Demand for commercial flights to and from Skye are to be examined by transport body Hitrans.

Loganair flew out of the island's Ashaig Airfield until 1988.

Built in the 1970s by Army engineers, the airstrip appeared briefly in 1980 film Flash Gordon and remains available for hospital patient transfers.

Hitrans, which works to promote and protect transport links, will update a previous report on the cost and demand for air travel to and from Skye.

Skye Liberal Democrat councillor Drew Millar has been calling for the resumption of commercial flights.

He said it would be good for the economies of the island and neighbouring Lochalsh, on the mainland.

Mr Millar said: "It would mean good quality jobs.

"You would have airport staff, opportunities for car hire and freight could go out.

"The economic benefits must be huge."

The airstrip appears briefly in a scene of Flash Gordon, which starred Sam J Jones, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed.

Though commercial flights ended in 1988, the strip continued to be available for use by the emergency services and the military.

NHS Highland and the ambulance service use it for flying Broadford Hospital patients to larger hospitals in Inverness and Glasgow.