Oban An t-Òban in Scottish Gaelic meaning The Little Bay is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban occupies a beautiful setting in the Firth of Lorn. Oban Bay is a near perfect horseshoe bay, protected by the island of Kerrera, and beyond Kerrera is Mull. To the north is the long low island of Lismore, and the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour.
In Oban "The Gateway to the Isles" some 9.4% of the population speak Gaelic.
Oban lies at the western end of the A85 road. It also has a railway station where a number of First ScotRail services operate to and from Glasgow Queen Street daily. The town is also an important ferry port, being Caledonian MacBrayne's busiest terminal. Oban is known as the Gateway to the Isles, with ferries sailing to the islands of Lismore, Colonsay, Islay, Coll, Tiree, to Craignure on Mull, to Castlebay on Barra and to Lochboisdale on South Uist. In 2005 a new ferry terminal was opened. In 2007 a second link span opened, allowing two vessels to load/unload at the same time.
Oban Airport (IATA: OBN, ICAO: EGEO) is located 5 NM (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) northeast of Oban, near the village of North Connel, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Operated by Argyll and Bute council, it has a CAA licence as a commercial airport following recent upgrading . Currently Hebridean Air Services is the only airline based at Oban and operate scheduled flights on two routes. The first route departs Oban to the Isles of Colonsay and Islay return and the second leaves Oban bound for the Isles of Coll and Tiree return.
The airstrips on the Islands of Coll and Colonsay also operated by Argyll and Bute council have benefitted from extensive upgrading to enable them to attain CAA licensing to allow for commercial traffic.
There has been controversy about the running of the airport by Argyll and Bute Council, mainly in the letters and news pages of the 'Oban Times'. It is claimed that costs have soared and the amount of traffic dropped since the takeover. There have been additional claims that the airport fire appliance has been sabotaged.
