Loganair “putting oil charter before patients”
The plane which currently operates the lifeline service each weekday morning between Inverness and Stornoway is to be redeployed on a more lucrative oil-related charter between Aberdeen and Shetland, the Gazette has been informed.
Loganair’s unilateral decision to withdraw the morning service has been widely condemned particularly because of its impact upon travel for hospital patients attending Raigmore and medical consultants coming into the island. The Western Isles NHS Board has said it is “highly concerned” about the impact.
According to Loganair, the financial losses on the service – as well as the one from Inverness to Orkney and Shetland – are “unsustainable” and they have stated that a £580,000 support package put together by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited “falls materially short of the £1.3 million required to maintain the current schedule”.
However, the suggestion that another use has already been found for the plane casts doubt on Loganair’s explanation, as far as Stornoway is concerned.
It is understood that it will position to Aberdeen to operate the Shetland charter and then return to Inverness via Aberdeen in time to take up its normal schedule. This arrangement, we were informed, will take effect the day after the Inverness-Stornoway morning service is withdrawn.
There will continue to be an Inverness-Stornoway morning service on Saturdays which is consistent with our information that the charter will cover only weekdays.
On Monday, the Gazette put a series of questions to Loganair via the public relations firm which represents them. While receipt of the questions was acknowledged, no other response had been received as we went to press on Wednesday.
We asked: “Our understanding is that the plane currently used to do the Inverness-Stornoway morning flight will instead be deployed on an oil-related charter from Aberdeen to Shetland before resuming its normal schedule out of Inverness. Grateful if you could confirm if this is the case.
“Arising out of that, is the withdrawal of the morning Inverness-Stornoway return service...
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from July 19th a fait accompli, regardless of whether the Scottish Government comes up with the money?”.
At Holyrood, there has been cross-party condemnation of Loganair’s action which will impact access to health services in all three island groups as well as workers. Isles MSP, Donald Mackinnon, met Loganair management on Tuesday to voice his concerns on this and other issues.
A cross-party letter to the new Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Stephen Flynn, signed by Mr Mackinnon and other Highlands and Islands MSPs, has called for his “commitment to work with us on a wider regional air strategy which addresses the long-term viability and deliverability of vital lifeline routes across our region”.
The letter states: “This commitment was previously made in the National Transport Strategy, however the resulting aviation policy statement does not address the need for a holistic review of how we deliver these services”.
Torcuil Crichton MP was due to meet with Loganair’s chief executive, Luke Farajahallah, in London on Wednesday. As well as the immediate issues, Mr Crichton is asking the UK government “to look at regional air links in the round” including public sector support through designation of PSO routes.
Loganair has also failed to answer questions from the Gazette about why, unlike most other airlines, it has continued to impose fuel duty surcharges on its island fares. A return fare now includes a “fuel duty surcharge” of up to £27 which is not subject to the Air Discount Scheme.