Loganair responds to termination of Flybe’s competition across its network
Loganair notes the statement made earlier today by Flybe concerning the withdrawal from March 4 2018 of the last remaining routes on which it was competing with Loganair.
Following an approach by Flybe this week, Loganair has agreed to assist the airline by honouring its forward bookings on services between Stornoway and Glasgow as well as Kirkwall to Aberdeen.
Loganair can confirm it will work with Flybe to provide seats on its services to guarantee travel plans and customers will be contacted by Flybe to arrange re-booking in the coming days.
Loganair does not have access to Flybe’s customer information so is regrettably unable to assist customers directly until arrangements have been confirmed through Flybe.
The airline also confirms there will be no redundancies in its ground handling operations in either Stornoway or Kirkwall as a result of loss of the Flybe contract for ground handling and would like to thank its team for their efforts in delivering this service over the last six months.
Speaking about the withdrawal, Loganair’s Managing Director Jonathan Hinkles said:
“We have maintained since the outset of competition that these routes could not economically sustain two airlines. The competition has been short-lived but intense, and we are grateful to the people of the Northern and Western Isles for their tremendous support, which has been unwavering – seeing over seven in every ten passengers choosing to fly with Loganair.
“I’d also like to extend my gratitude to our entire team who have worked tirelessly to provide an excellent quality of service for passengers.
“Looking ahead, we recently already announced developments for the coming summer including larger aircraft on key routes, extra services between the islands and the first ever non-stop links between Stornoway, Orkney and Manchester.
“We significantly increased the number of seats offered to Shetland, Orkney and Stornoway during Summer 2018, before the arrival of competition. We believe that the schedule we have in place for 2018 will enable us to meet demand, but as ever, we’ll be monitoring this closely and if there is need for more flights, we’ll work hard to ensure that we are positioned to meet it.
“Our priority now is to continue the focus on providing the reliable, cost-effective and sustainable air services for Scotland’s most remote communities. Loganair delivers a wide range of services including NHS patient travel scheme, daily newspaper deliveries and dedicated flights for Royal Mail together with hundreds of flights every week across our network.
“We’re proud to have served island communities for over 50 years and look forward to doing so for many more years to come.”
