Scotland’s key air routes targeted for early resumption
Ministers could provide extra support to airlines for restoring flights as Edinburgh to New York and Doha are lined up for re-start.
Transport secretary Michael Matheson told MSPS key international air routes from Scotland were being identified as priorities for flights resuming.
He said they would include links to hub airports where passengers change planes, and to North America.
Hubs served from Scotland where flights are currently suspended include Frankfurt and Istanbul, and Dubai and Doha in the Middle East.
Mr Matheson said such routes could be the target of route development work to try to re-establish them “as quickly as possible”.
But he warned the Scottish Parliament’s connectivity committee that aviation “will be a very challenging area for an extended period of time”.
Mr Matheson also said the impact of the UK Government’s planned 14-day quarantine restrictions for arriving passengers was far from clear.
He said it had been unable to say whether passengers travelling to Scotland via another UK airport like Heathrow would be quarantined there or on arrival in Scotland.
He said the Scottish Government had not been formally consulted over the plans but had been made aware of them several days before they were announced at the weekend.
Qatar Airways has notified the aviation industry it intends to resume Edinburgh-doha flights on 1 June, but this has not been confirmed.
The service would operate three times a week, then increase to four from July and five from August.
Delta Airlines has also notified the industry of the potential resumption of daily Edinburgh-new York JFK flights from 2 July.
But the carrier told The Scotsman: “We are continuing to evaluate our network plans for the months ahead and will adjust as needed based on demand, [US] Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and government travel restrictions.”
British Airways is still operating some flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow to its Heathrow hub, KLM between the cities and its Amsterdam hub, and Air France between Edinburgh and its Paris hub.