Stroma Airstrip

The airstrip's primary user was the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) for servicing the Stroma Lighthouse. The closure directly corresponds with the automation of the lighthouse in 1996. With the lighthouse no longer requiring resident keepers, the need for regular flights to transport personnel and supplies was eliminated. The island's general population had already left by 1962, so there was no other community or economic driver to sustain the airfield's operation.

The site of the former airstrip is completely disused and has returned to nature. It exists as an unmaintained, overgrown grass strip in the southern part of the island. While its outline can still be faintly identified on satellite imagery, it is unusable for any form of aviation. The entire Isle of Stroma is privately owned and is now used for the seasonal grazing of cattle and sheep, which are transported from the mainland by boat. The former runway area is simply part of this open grazing land.

Stroma Airstrip is located on the Isle of Stroma, which is part of Caithness (Highland council area), not Orkney. The island sits in the Pentland Firth, between the Scottish mainland and the Orkney Islands, leading to common confusion about its administrative region. The airstrip, a simple grass runway, was established in the mid-20th century. Its significance lies not in commercial or passenger travel, but as a critical piece of infrastructure for the Northern Lighthouse Board. It served as a lifeline, allowing light aircraft to land on the remote island, ensuring the Stroma Lighthouse could be reliably staffed and supplied, especially when rough seas in the Pentland Firth made access by boat impossible. It represents an era of aviation where small, basic airfields were essential for maintaining remote national infrastructure before helicopters became the standard for such logistical tasks.

There are no known plans or realistic prospects for reopening the Stroma Airstrip. The island remains uninhabited and is privately owned for agricultural use. There is no resident population, tourism infrastructure, or economic activity that would justify the substantial investment required to restore, certify, and maintain an airfield. Any occasional access needed for the island's owner or for maintenance of the automated lighthouse equipment is more efficiently and economically handled by boat or helicopter.