THIS month celebrates an historic aviation event in Largs - as town marks 75 years since a pioneering flight from Iceland to Largs seafront.

In 1945, Iceland Airways Ltd, now Icelandair, flew its first post-war passenger flight to Scotland in 1945 as a Catalina boat plane travelled from Reykjavik to Largs Bay carrying four crew and four passengers on July 11, pictured.

The passengers aboard Icelandair’s Catalina flugbátur, or ‘flight boat,’ were Icelandic merchants travelling to buy goods from the town to be sold back in Iceland.

The maiden flight, which took six hours, was captained by Jóhannes R. Snorrason and manned by pilot Smári Karlsson, engineer Sigurður Ingólfsson and radio operator Jóhann Gíslason.

Regular flights between Prestwick Airport and Copenhagen in Denmark were founded in 1946.

In 1942, during World War 2, Largs became an airport for the Catalinas, which helped patrol the Atlantic searching for German U-Boats. The Largs base served as an overflow for the larger Greenock Seaplane Base at The Battery Park and was a civilian facility operated by Scottish Aviation Ltd, which was based at Prestwick.

Barrfields Theatre became the base's workshop and administration area with the putting greens at the front their staging post.

RAF personnel would serve on attachment to the seaplane base which included soon-to-be Opportunities Knocks presenter Hughie Greene, father of late tv presenter Paula Yates.

Mr Greene served as a ferry pilot and his flying log book records are held by Largs Heritage Centre within St Columba’s Parish Church.

The concrete slip which was built for them across from Barrfields Pavilion, and is still in use today by Largs Lifeboat, was where the historic Icelandic air flight arrived all those years ago, making Scottish aviation history.

It played major part in World War Two as a flying boat reception facility, allowing Consolidated Catalinas to land and be fitted with specialist equipment or serviced to help win the Battle of the Atlantic.

In 1944 and 1945, larger Consolidated Coronado transport flying boats of No 231 Squadron mounted a service from Canada to Largs, bringing urgent freight and mail and then taking aircraft ferry crews in the opposite direction. The service finally ended in September 1945 when the squadron relocated to Bermuda.

Ten years ago, The Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust unveiled a memorial dedicated to 'Largs Airfield' close to the famous slipway.