More air services from the Islands to Edinburgh

Flight schedule from Scotland’s capital and Stornoway will increase from eight to 11 weekly flights, with two roundtrips each day Monday to Thursday and one per day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

This restores schedule cuts made earlier this year and follows changes made by Loganair to its schedules to accommodate revised operating parameters introduced at Edinburgh Airport this summer.

Weekday departures will leave Edinburgh at 07:20 (Monday to Thursday) and 17:00 (Monday to Friday).

Return flights will leave Stornoway at 08:50 on Mondays, 10:50 Tuesday to Thursday and 18:40 Monday to Friday, arriving in Edinburgh 65 minutes later.

There will also be a brand-new link between Edinburgh and Benbecula, offering a same-plane through-service on three days per week for the very first time.

The new service, commencing on 5 September, will leave Edinburgh at 07:20 Tuesday to Thursday, arriving in Benbecula just over two hours later after a short stop in Stornoway during which customers can remain on the aircraft.

Return flights leave Benbecula at 09:55 and will arrive in Edinburgh at 12:00.

There is an evening connection from Benbecula to Edinburgh every weekday as well, requiring a change of aircraft in Stornoway, to offer additional flexibility to customers when making their travel plans.

Changes to the airline’s inter-island schedule between Stornoway and Benbecula also mean that it will become possible to connect from Inverness to Benbecula on three mornings per week.

This involves a change of aircraft at Stornoway and a journey time of 2 hours and 5 minutes.

The existing one-stop same-plane service between Inverness and Benbecula every weekday afternoon remains in place.

All services carry a British Airways codeshare, offering convenient onward connections at Edinburgh to British Airways’ services to London Heathrow, Gatwick and City airports and onward to over 200 destinations around the world.

Commenting on the enhanced services, Loganair’s Managing Director Jonathan Hinkles said: “Scotland’s Airline is continually looking for new and innovative ways to make travel more straightforward for our customers.

“The restored schedule between Edinburgh and Stornoway, and the brand-new link between Edinburgh and Benbecula, will make travel between Edinburgh and the Western Isles easier and cheaper than before.”

The new services are available to book at www.loganair.co.uk.

The “Manage my Booking” facility on Loganair’s website, and a new quick link to the Air Discount Scheme log-in pages for ADS members in the Highlands and Islands, are amongst new developments to the Loganair website released earlier this week.

All Loganair fares include a free 20kg checked bag and in-flight refreshments for every customer and the airline has led the way on intra-Scotland flights by abolishing surcharges for payment by credit card.

Fares on the new same-plane service from Benbecula to Edinburgh start from only £41.07 one-way including all taxes for Air Discount Scheme members.