More than 70 years of military history are drawing to an end as the last regular flying operations take off from RAF Kinloss.

The air base is being closed and converted into an army base under the UK Government's defence cuts programme.

The RAF is due to leave the Moray station in March 2013, leaving nearby RAF Lossiemouth as the only Scottish military airbase. The army will move in the following year.

RAF Kinloss's history goes back to 1939, when it was constructed in less than a year in response to the looming threat of war in Europe.

Defence secretary Liam Fox announced last year that the base would close as the Government cancelled the Nimrod MRA4 aircraft, which would have been stationed at Kinloss.

At the time he said: "The overall package I have announced today is good news for our armed forces and means that they can look forward to the future with renewed confidence."

SNP defence spokesman and MP for Moray, Angus Robertson, has criticised the closure, accusing the UK Government of adopting a "shut and run" strategy to defence spending.

There has also been concern over the prospect of moving the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC), which assisted with more than 2,000 emergency call-outs last year, away from the Moray base.

A Scottish Government spokesman said it was a "sad day" for RAF Kinloss.

"The UK Government's decisions to withdraw the RAF from both Kinloss and Leuchars was bitterly disappointing, making it all the more important that the pledges to increase the army footprint in Scotland are delivered in full," he said.