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Isles of Scilly Skybus |
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Isles of Scilly Skybus |
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Skybus - the Isles of Scilly's own airline
Established in 1984, Isles of Scilly Skybus is the islands&' own airline and operates both passenger and air freight services.
Initially flying services with a single Britten-Norman Islander
from its base at Land's End
(St Just) airfield - the original route to Scilly first flown in 1937 - the
company now offers a comprehensive timetable of flights from a range of
other airports through its fleet of Islanders and Twin Otters.
Skybus is part of the Isles of Scilly Steamship
group, and operates in conjunction with the
sea service to Scilly of the the r.m.v. Scillonian which sails from
Penzance to St Mary's.
Skybus took over Brymon Airways routes to Scilly when Brymon ceased operating to Scilly at the end of the 1990 season. Services are now flown from a number of locations in the south and west.
Airports and flight times are -
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Land's End
Newquay Exeter Bristol Southampton |
20 minutes
30 minutes 60 minutes 75 minutes 90 minutes |
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All flights are to St Mary's.
Skybus operates three Britten-Norman Islanders, together with two de Havilland Canada Twin Otters. Services from Land’s End are normally operated by Islander, all other services primarily flown by the Twin Otters.
The BN2 Islander first came to Scilly in 1969, being flown for BEA Helicopters, and subsequently operated by Westward Airways and Brymon Airways. The first DHC-6 Twin Otter (appropriately registered G-BDHC) joined the Brymon fleet in 1974.
Both types are world leaders in their own right. The Islander is one of the most successful British airliners, designed to replace the de Havilland Dragon Rapide, and continues in production with Britten-Norman. The Twin Otter is a STOL airliner from the famous de Havilland Canada stable, and is operated by many commuter airlines.
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seen on St Mary's - summer 1997 photographs © Mike Ingham |
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Basic data for each aircraft (actual
performance will vary according to flight
operated and load carried and, in the case of the Islander,
the engines fitted) -
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Data / Type |
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Span (ft/ins) |
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Engines |
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Max Weight (lbs) |
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Cruise speed (kts) |
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Max Range (nm) |
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Crew |
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Max Passengers |
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Islander: G-BUBN, G-SBUS, G-SSKY
Twin Otter: G-BIHO, G-CBML, G-CEWM
and Skybus has also operated -
Islander: G-AXWP, G-AXWR, G-BCEN, G-BESO, G-BFNU, G-BJWL, G-PASZ
The first aircraft acquired by Skybus was the Short SC.7 Skyvan 7Q-YAY/G-BHVK, but this was never operated. The first services were flown by Islander G-BFNU. Other types have been demonstrated to Skybus, including the de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou, Dornier Do 228, and LET 410.
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push button for Islander startup sound
(.wav file 137k) |
Isles of Scilly Skybus
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this page last updated 18 May 2009
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