Plane testing exercises

More overseas aircraft are being tested out at Stornoway airport.

Gale force winds in the Hebrides have a big pull factor in attracting some of the newest, modern planes in the world on training flights.

The latest passenger jets staged landing approaches while battered by strong westerlies cutting across the runway at island airfields.

A third French manufactured plane - the prototype Falcon 8X - spent two days in the islands, between Benbecula and Stornoway.

The ultra-long range 8X is the flagship aircraft for the Dassault Aviation corporation which has a presence in over 90 countries across five continents.

Plane manufacturers head to islands for testing exercises

20 November 2016

The new prototype Falcon 8X at Stornoway

An Airbus A350 carried out cross-wind landing tests this week.

Another Airbus model, the narrower A321, also flew a number of test approaches at Stornoway.

Both planes arrived from company headquarters in Toulouse, France.

The Falcon 8X at Stornoway is Dassault Aviation’s test model

A Highlands and Islands Airports spokesperson said: “Similar training exercises have taken place in the past for a range of aircraft."

Airbus A350 at Stornoway