Qualla: Sligo Airport

Sligo Airport: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The.Q, CC BY-SA 3.0. The runway at Sligo runs along a sand peninsula barely two kilometres long, with the Atlantic at one end and protected dunes at the other. There is, in pilot's terms, no margin. Like Gibraltar or Funchal, Sligo demands precision because the geography offers no second chances. In 2002, a Euroceltic Fokker F-27 came in fast and low and ended up nose-down in the sea, its main gear caught on an embankment - everyone walked away, but the plane was a write-off two weeks later from salt damage to the cockpit. The scheduled flights ended in 2011. What remained, and what still operates here today, is something arguably more important: the helicopter that comes when the sea is taking somebody's life.

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Image: The.Q | CC BY-SA 3.0

Sligo Airport: Rescue 118

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Niallio77, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sligo Airport is home to Rescue 118, the Irish Coast Guard's search-and-rescue helicopter for Ireland's northwest. It has been based here since 2004. The current aircraft is a Sikorsky S-92A, a heavy-lift twin-engine machine that replaced the older S-61N on 1 July 2013. It flies ...

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Image: Niallio77 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Sligo Airport: The Day the Plane Stopped in the Sea

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874 - 1951), Public domain. On 2 November 2002, a Euroceltic Fokker F-27 with the registration G-ECAT was finishing a routine run from Dublin. The approach was fast and the landing was late - nosewheel first, almost halfway down the runway. By the time the brakes had any meaningful effect, there was no runw...

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Image: Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874 - 1951) | Public domain

Sligo Airport: The Runway That Couldn't Grow

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0. In February 2007, the Irish government announced €8.5 million in capital grants to extend the runway, add approach lighting, and improve safety margins. The plan required infilling part of the adjacent protected beach and erecting gantries over the sand. Almost 400 objections cam...

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Image: Andreas F. Borchert | CC BY-SA 4.0

Sligo Airport: What's Still Here

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:FoekeNoppert, CC BY-SA 3.0. The scheduled flights are gone but the airfield is far from dead. Sligo Aero Club operates from here. Cessnas, Pipers, and Beechcraft come and go on training flights and private trips. Occasional jets visit when their performance suits the short runway. For a stretch of years the...

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Image: User:FoekeNoppert | CC BY-SA 3.0