Virtual shutdown for Highland airports

● Loganair and Calmac slash services on island routes to bare lifeline links

Scottish airline Loganair is to cut flights for the third time in a move that will leave it with a “skeleton” service and all but close airports across the Highlands and Islands.

The 11 airports will remain open from Sunday for “lifeline and essential services”, their Scottish Government-owned operator said.

It came as Calmac slashes its west coast ferry sailings by 60 per cent from today and postpones a 2-3 per cent fare increase.

Glasgow-based Loganair said it would operate a limited timetable in Scotland with a minimum of six weekly return flights, daily except Saturday, between Aberdeen and Kirkwall, Manchester, Norwich and Sumburgh.

It will run the same schedule between Glasgow and Barra, Benbecula, Campbeltown, Islay, Stornoway and Tiree, while there will also be flights from Kirkwall to Sumburgh, from Stornoway to Benbecula and Orkney inter-isles air services.

Loganair said last week it would reduce services by 20 per cent, then said it would be as much as 75 per cent.

But as an indicator of the dramatic curtailment of operations at Scotland’s major airports, the airline still accounted for half of the 14 routes which remained at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports yesterday afternoon.

Inglis Lyon, managing director of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, said its remaining flights “were essential to the continued delivery of medical and other critical supplies, the transport of key workers, and also to enable emergency flights for island communities”.

Dedicated flights operated for Royal Mail and the oil and gas industry will also be maintained, with all other Loganair routes suspended from Monday until at least 20 April.

Calmac said its sailings would be scaled back from the current 2,419 to 948 a week for at least the next three weeks.

But the Scottish Government-owned operator stressed sailings would continue on all island routes.

Daily passengers were down from 9,500 to 1,500 and expected to fall further, with the number of cars carried falling by 75 per cent and commercial traffic by 45 per cent compared to a year ago.

The annual fares increase from today has been temporarily postponed.

Prices for cars were to have gone up by 3 per cent, and by 2 per cent for passengers, commercial vehicles and coaches.

Calmac managing director Robbie Drummond said: “We believe this timetable will maximise use of available crews for the vessels and continue to provide our vital lifeline service for communities.

“Community groups and key hauliers have been consulted to ensure that the supply chains can be maintained.”