HIAL invests over £9 million in energy efficient runway lighting at Kirkwall and Inverness airports 

Highlands and Islands Airports Restricted (HIAL) is to take a position £9 million in new vitality environment friendly Aeronautical Floor Lighting (AGL) programs at Kirkwall and Inverness airports as a part of an ongoing programme to keep up airport infrastructure that may also carry environmental advantages. 

Following open tender processes, contractors GMR Henderson have been awarded the contract to hold out the work at Kirkwall, with G&A Barnie chosen for the challenge at Inverness.

The AGL system supplies visible steerage to pilots throughout touchdown, taxiing and take-off in darkness and when visibility is impaired resulting from opposed climate situations. The brand new lighting will guarantee  the airports can proceed to function safely and be compliant with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) necessities. They may also scale back vitality consumption by as much as 80%.

The work has been deliberate to make sure  there is no such thing as a affect on flights with little disturbance at both airport. Set to start in April, the work will proceed by to mid-September at Inverness, with Kirkwall resulting from full in October.

Graeme Bell, Inverness Airport Basic Supervisor, mentioned: “The brand new lighting represents a major modernisation of our airfield lighting system and can contribute to decreased upkeep schedules whereas on the identical time decreasing the airport’s environmental footprint.

“The vitality saving qualities of the brand new system will contribute considerably to decreasing our vitality consumption at Inverness airport”. Kirkwall Airport Supervisor, Kimberley Fisher, mentioned: “Having this new LED AGL system in place not solely retains our runways protected and compliant with regulation, but in addition helps our work to be extra vitality environment friendly.

“The challenge has been designed to create a seamless transition from the previous to the brand new extra sustainable system with out impacting our providers.” Of the general determine, £5 million is being invested in Kirkwall and £4 million in Inverness.