Loganair admit they “have to get house in order”
Loganair came to Stornoway this week on a peace mission after months of negative publicity over unaffordable fares and charges of using island routes to subsidise other parts of their network.
At a meeting with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar transportation chair, Uisdean Robertson, and chief executive Martin Joyce, Loganair chief executive Luke Farajallah committed to a revised fare structure though details are still to emerge.
Mr Robertson said: “They started with an apology and said they had to get their house in order. I think they have had a bit of a fright from all the publicity and being hauled before Parliamentary committees.
“We had a lengthy discussion on fares and I’m glad they are committed to looking at the structure, though we’ll need to see what comes out of it. There was an acceptance that fares are too high.
“They said they will publicise special fares which exist but most people have never heard of. Compensation is another area I get a lot of complaints about and they are going to look at that too.
“I took it as a positive discussion. We also looked at timetabling issues. For example, there used to be a late flight from Benbecula to Glasgow on Fridays with a return on Monday mornings, which was quite popular so they said they would look at that”
Mr Robertson said they were assured there will be no repeat withdrawal of the morning service between Inverness and Stornoway which had a major impact on the NHS and was rescinded last month after the Scottish Government put in a £1.1 million subsidy. to restore the Monday flights which link Inverness with Orkney and Shetland as well as Stornoway.
The subsidy will run out in March but seems likely to be renewed. Costs to NHS boards, resulting from withdrawal of these services, comfortably exceeded the cost of subsidy secured by Loganair.
Mr Farajullah’s flight from Stornoway on Tuesday would, at that point, have cost £329 single fare to Glasgow. The same day, Loganair was charging £160 to fly from Donegal to Glasgow and £125 between Manchester and the Isle of Man – all flights of very similar duration.