Axed Loganair flights to Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland restored thanks to new government cash
£1 million funding will enable services to resume by October
Axed Loganair flights to the Western and Northern Isles will be restored by October after ministers provided the airline with most of the £1.3 million it sought to continue the services.
The announcement on Thursday followed an outcry over one of two daily flights between Inverness and Stornoway being grounded last month along with weekday flights between the Highland capital and Kirkwall in Orkney and Sumburgh in Shetland.
Flights between Aberdeen and the islands were not affected.
NHS Western Isles had warned MSPs in June that eye patients could go blind by being deterred from attending health appointments if they had to stay overnight in Inverness rather than being able to fly back the same day.
Glasgow-based Loganair blamed the cuts on increasing fuel and maintenance costs, and low passenger numbers, with some flights operating with only 20 per cent of seats filled.
The Scottish government said it would provide £1.06 million to Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (Hial) , which it owns and which runs the airports involved.
Loganair will pick up the remaining £240,000. It told The Scotsman it hoped to restore the flights before the agreed October 26 date.
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie, who is convener of the Scottish Parliament’s transport committee, said: “This investment will be a positive outcome for the island communities who made powerful and compelling representations to the committee.
“From the evidence we heard, it is clear that a longer-term plan for aviation will need to be considered as part of the [Scottish government’s] Islands Connectivity Plan.”
Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) Scottish Labour MSP Donald MacKinnon said: “This situation should never have been allowed to escalate to this point.
“Significant disruption has taken place since the service was reduced in July.
“We desperately need the Scottish government to deliver a strategy for island air travel that ensures services work for islanders while making the best use of public money.
“A fix for one year is not enough, islanders need long-term certainty.”
Economy, Tourism and Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn said: “Hial and Loganair have worked collaboratively through commercial discussions to restart these services from October 26, providing greater certainty to passengers.
“Transport Scotland will now work with Hial and industry stakeholders to discuss next steps for a sustainable, long-term solution to protect Highlands and islands air services for those who rely on them.”
Luke Farajallah, chief executive at Loganair, said the airline would work to ensure the routes are “on to a footing that lasts”.
He said: “These routes matter enormously to the people who rely on them, and we’ve never lost sight of that throughout this process.
“We’re a privately-owned airline, and keeping thin routes like these flying isn’t something we can always do alone, so we’re genuinely pleased that the Scottish Government has stepped in to make full services possible again from October.
“Our commitment to the Highlands and islands goes back decades, and it isn’t going anywhere. We’ll keep working with Hial and Transport Scotland to get these routes on to a footing that lasts.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.