I traveled to Kirkwall in Scotland to try to fly on the World’s Shortest scheduled passenger flight between Westray and Papa Westray. Flights on the route are scheduled for one and a half minutes with actual flying time is closer to one minute. The record was set at 53 seconds.

After a few amazing inter island flights on LoganAir Britten-Norman Islander the day before, I had a dramatic change in the weather and suffered a set back.

Throughout my inter-island flights, I’ve learnt these flights are crucial to support the remote community in Scotland. I also traveled on Logan Air Saab-2000, the world’s fastest turboprop from Aberdeen to Kirkwall.

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- Sam Chui

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Join me for an exciting look into the short flights between the different constituent islands of the Orkney Islands in Northern Scotland. These island hopping flights are a real lifeline service for the inhabitants of these tiny Scottish islands and are subsidised by the British government to ensure that residents of the islands are not dependent upon a ferry service which only operates once a week and is vulnerable to being cancelled due to the frequent bad weather which plagues the area.

It’s a real treat to be able to meet the local pilots who make it all possible and to hear from passengers about how much these flight services mean to them. Some of the Orkney islands have less than 100 inhabitants, but these essential flight services ensure that these small communities and their unique culture can continue well into the future.

I start in Aberdeen International airport, from where I travel to Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney islands. The flight is operated by Loganair and takes 25 minutes to complete at an altitude of 14,000 feet. At the last minute, there is a pleasant surprise when the flight is seemingly upgraded from the Saab 340 to the Saab 2000 aeroplane. The difference between these two is very noticeable indeed with the former being far less powerful with only 1750 shaft horsepower in each engine whereas the Saab 2000 has a huge 4100 shaft horsepower on either side which incidentally makes the Saab 2000 the world’s fastest turboprop passenger aeroplane. The Saab 2000 is also much more comfortable – despite the small size of the aeroplane, there is surprisingly more leg room with each individual seat than you would find with the likes of the Boeing 737 or the Airbus A320 – brilliant!

Upon arriving at Kirkwall, I meet a senior pilot who has been flying these short flights between the Orkney islands for years and he outlines the tour of the Orkney Islands which we will be taking by air. I travel with him in the cockpit as we start by flying to North Ronaldsay, which is 25 nautical miles away and takes 15 minutes. From there, it’s on to Papa Westray which takes 8 minutes and then we go back to Kirkwall which takes a further 12 minutes.

We also fly between Sanday and Stronsay which takes between 3 and 4 minutes and is therefore probably the second shortest scheduled airline flight in the world. The flights have a really lovely homely and local communication touch and feel to them, with one couple even getting the pilot to check on the well-being of their dinner in the hold (a pie, I’m told!)

The weather back in Kirkwall is pleasant – even in June the temperature is around 11 degrees but the sun is out and it’s not raining so you can’t complain!

Our final flight was to be the world’s shortest scheduled airline flight, at just two minutes (though it can be done in less than 60 seconds if the wind is blowing in the right direction) between Westray and Papa Westray. This flight is operated as a round trip between Westray, Papa Westray and Kirkwall and is run for the benefit of those in Westray who need to get to Kirkwall.

Unfortunately, the changeable British weather scuppers my plans, with thick fog rolling in severely reducing visibility and forcing the operators to cancel the flight four hours after it was due to take off. It’s a shame as I had really wanted to get my Orkney Inter Island Air Service certificate for taking the world’s shortest flight but it wasn’t to be on this occasion. Never mind though – I’ll definitely be back and hopefully the weather we will be better then.
What did you think of the whole Orkney Island hopping experience? Let me know in the comments section down below and, as always, thanks for watching!

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