Fresh blow for airport as airline cuts flights

Wick John O’Groats Airport has been dealt a fresh blow with Eastern Airways confirming it is not reinstating its early evening return flight.

The airline, which runs a service to Aberdeen and

Edinburgh with partners Flybe, announced in November that it would be reducing its twice daily flights to just one over the winter.

But it has now announced that this is to remain in place while talks continue to have scheduled links to and from Wick supported by a new state subsidy.

Eastern previously said it had cut the evening flights as it had to meet compensation claims from passengers for delays and cancellations in previous winters. It added that it was working with others to explore ways of making the services at Wick more sustainable. A spokesman said: “Nothing has changed since our last statement was issued regarding this route. Dialogue remains ongoing between all key stakeholders to get the appropriate mechanism to support air services in Wick.”