Traffic and Travel

Loganair has cancelled six flights to and from Stornoway on Tuesday 21 May as a result of the continuing “work to rule” action by HIAL Air Traffic Control staff.

A Lewis crofter has expressed her dismay at being forced to miss a poultry auction this weekend due to being denied vehicle space on either the Stornoway to Ullapool or the Tarbert to Uig ferry tomorrow morning (Friday).

The future of long-term ferry options in the Western Isles is currently being appraised.

The future of flight costs to the Islands was brought into sharp focus this week with calls from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Islands’ air carrier, Loganair, for Airport Passenger Duty (APD) to be cut for island flights which depart from the mainland.

A Lewis crofter has expressed her dismay at being forced to miss a poultry auction this weekend due to being denied vehicle space on either the Stornoway to Ullapool or the Tarbert to Uig ferry tomorrow morning (Friday).

Western Isles airports will be impacted by a planned strike at Highlands and Islands (HIAL) airports on May 23rd.

Loganair’s check-in and bag-drop desks are moving to a more convenient location at Glasgow Airport from May 7th.

A suggestion that the Western Isles could be linked by a series of bridges and sub-sea tunnels in the future, and that these would not cost the taxpayer, has been made by the region’s MP Angus MacNeil.

Ferry operators CalMac have admitted ‘teething problems’ with their new ticketing system but they remain keen to move to a completely paperless ticket system in the future.

From today (Monday), of all four of Loganair’s weekday Glasgow to Stornoway services will be operated by the 49-seat Embraer 145 jet, fully replacing the Saab turboprop aircraft formerly used on the service since 2016.

CalMac has improved the functionality of its online reservations system.

Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil has written to Transport Minister Michael Matheson MSP to suggest the Scottish Government visit the Faroe Islands to see the new 11.2 km subsea tunnel.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, is extremely concerned that islanders will not be able to use the ferry from Stornoway in the coming weeks.

Drivers have been warned to expect “significant delays” over Easter with more than 20 million cars expected on the roads between Maundy Thursday and Easter Monday.

Hopes are being raised that this week’s bombshell announcement by bus firm First that it is pulling out of the Borders will turn out to be for the best.

Rail services in Scotland could fall back into public hands if performance doesn’t improve drastically over the next three years.

A consultation on the future of rail services has been launched on a day of chaos across the network for passengers.

Asda has announced it is capping its petrol prices at 110.7p per litre, with diesel at 112.7p from today (Tuesday).