Unit History: RN Air Station Grimsetter

Kirkwall Airport is situated on the A960 road, 3 miles (5 km) east of Kirkwall. It was established as a Royal Air Force fighter station, known as RAF Grimsetter, early in World War II and became a civilian airport in 1948. A new ?3.4 million terminal building was opened in 2002 by First Minister Jack McConnell (b. 1960). The airport is operated by the government-owned Highland and Islands Airports Limited and has the International Air Transport Association (IATA) location code "KOI". Scheduled flights operate to many of the Orkney islands, together with Sumburgh (Shetland) and mainland destinations such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Wick.