How to reach the Shetland Islands

The Shetland Islands are a group of islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean, off the north coast of Scotland. They are part of the United Kingdom, but they are much closer to Norway than to mainland Scotland

There are two main ways to reach the Shetland Islands: by ferry or by plane.

By ferry

The NorthLink ferry company operates a ferry service from Aberdeen on mainland Scotland to Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands. The ferry journey takes approximately 12 hours. There are also ferry services from Kirkwall in Orkney to Lerwick, which take approximately 7 hours.

By plane

Loganair operates flights from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow to Sumburgh Airport in Shetland. The flight time from Aberdeen is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The flights between London Heathrow T2 and Sumburgh began in May 2023, taking just over three hours, the flight briefly touches down in Dundee, but passengers are not required to leave the aircraft.