Before I start, here’s a quick summary of what the opinion covers, to save you time if you’re looking for something specific. A bit about the airport website. Information on the location of the airport and how to get from/to it. A tour of the airport and heliport, and a look at their good and bad points. Contact details for the airport, the airlines and the car rental firms. Contact details and information on the Hotels.
Just as a bit of background, I use Aberdeen Airport regularly, this year has been quieter than normal, but I’ve passed through the airport 6 times and the heliport twice. Some of this information has been taken from the website https://baa.co.uk which is a lovely looking, fast loading, well designed site, that is pretty much bereft of any useful facts. For instance, go to the Hotel page and you get a link to Expedia, which is a pretty lame way of saying, we can’t be bothered to provide you with the information you’re looking for. Here’s the full content of the information provided on the page titled ’Terminal Information’, to give you an idea of how poor the website is.
Check-in & Arrivals
Arrivals and check-in are both based on the ground floor. Check-in is located on the left side of the concourse.
Huh - good job they don’t write for mouthshut!
Anyway, Aberdeen Airport is situated seven miles north west of Aberdeen city centre and is accessed from the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness road. The easiest and quickest way to get here, if you aren’t arriving by car, is to fly from another airport. That might sound daft, but it’s the way I usually get to Aberdeen, as it’s the hub of the North in many respects. The nearest railway station is in Aberdeen city centre, 7 miles away. The railway station is next to the bus station and a taxi rank, so you can take your pick. A taxi from here will cost about 10 uk pounds, the bus is about £1.40p as far as I can remember. The bus is probably quicker, as Aberdeen has bus lanes, and they run to and from the airport regularly. Getting a taxi from the airport between 8:30 and 9:30 in the morning can be very painful, as a lot of people are arriving on business at this time, so you’re better off taking the bus, which goes to the rail and bus station, via Union Street.
If arriving by car, the parking is all handily situated at the front of the airport. There is an online facility to pre-book parking - how good it is I wouldn?t like to say, or you can telephone 01224 722904. As you go through the main entrance, the check in desks are indeed on the left, so the website can’t be faulted for inaccuracy, and the solitary luggage carousel on the right. The car hire pickup desks are to the right as well, and so is the ’public’ bar, which has a couple of TVs. Straight ahead of the entrance are the toilets, phones, and seats, a decent WHSmiths, an amusement arcade, some very over priced shortbread shops, arrivals, and the entrance to the departure lounge, in which you’ll find another small bar and another small WHSmiths. The restaurant, which is very passable for airport food, is down here, as is another, quieter bar. The airport is tidy and small, but can be rather boring if you have to wait for long. Nipping into Aberdeen for a rake up Union Street is the best thing to do if you’re between flights. Security here is as tight as at a London Airport. The number of times my dirty underpants have been strewn about the place is unbelievable. This can be a real pain the backside, as BA, who seem to send all their worst employees to work in Aberdeen (That’s another opinion though), refuse to check you in more than 2 hours prior to departure, so if you have an infant and a pile of luggage going to the loo would either be like sitting in a cross between left luggage and a crèche, or a race to get back out before they detonate your Samsonite. A handy thing to know about Aberdeen Airport, is that if you have arrived from abroad via another UK airport, say Gatwick, for instance, and have had your luggage checked straight through, from the foreign country, it’s up to you to take your luggage to customs, so this means you can stuff your case full of Malt Whisky, Watches or whatever takes your fancy.
The Heliport is a no-nonsense affair situated on the other side of the airfield at Dyce village. Apparently 450, 000 passengers a year use it (Good old website), that works out at about 100 chopper flights a day to give you a rough idea what it’s like. Security here is also extremely tight. Most of the traffic is commercial, going offshore, so drugs are targeted heavily. No point in going into much detail about the heliport, as you need security clearance and training to even get booked on to most of the flights. The food options are minimal though, so eat before arriving.
To contact Aberdeen Airport, telephone 01224 722331 they will put you through to the airline of your choice, and have been pretty helpful whenever I’ve had to use them. If you want to book a taxi, Mairs are a good bet as they are a large firm and their base is at the Heliport, Tel 01224 724040. For car hire, the following are available -
Avis 01224 722282
Europcar 01224 770770
Budget 01224 771777
Hertz 01224 722373
The hire cars are all located to your left as you exit the main building, just follow the covered walkway up to the car park. The nearest petrol station is up at the entrance to the airport opposite The Thistle Hotel.
The Hotels in the area are fairly expensive, so unless you?re on your own it’s almost certainly cheaper to take a taxi into town and stay in a Hotel or B&B in Crown Street. This also means you’re handy for the restaurants, pubs etc, of which Aberdeen has plenty. More importantly, for me at least, you’re just around the corner from Ottakars and Dillons Bookshops. If you need to be near the airport, for meetings or an early start, and don’t mind the cost (ie, you’re on business) The Marriot by the Dyce Heliport is the best in my opinion, it has a good gym and pool, nice bar and restaurant and is very presentable. You can contact them on 1224 770011. There’s also a courtesey bus to and from the main airport, which is 5 minutes away.
Also at Dyce is The Skean Dhu Hotel, Tel 01224 723101, nice, expensive, nearer to the Heliport (Don’t worry about noise, Aberdeen Airport closes at 10 O’clock) but not as nice as The Marriot. At the airport itself is the less sartorial Speedbird - The ’Cheap’ option at about £50 a room, but pre-book as it’s often full - Tel 01224 772884. Across the road from it is The Thistle, Tel 01224 725252, it’s a very sombre place, expensive, nicely done out, but the outside of the building looks like Cell Block H, so it’s not my favourite. The bar has the atmosphere of a Drawing Room and is very expensive - you can always nip over to the bar at The Speedbird though, which is much friendlier, and they usually have football on the TV.
Well I’ve packed in everything about Aberdeen Airport that I thought might be useful. If I’ve missed anything out let me know and I’ll see what I can do.