Fury as Loganair continues air travel stoppage on key Western Isles route for another five weeks

Loganair will not resume flights from Inverness to the Western Isles until nearly the end of April despite the end of airport strikes.

Loganair employees at airports were not on strike but the airline halted Inverness services saying work-to-rule restrictions by unions representing Hial’s own in-house workforce made it impossible to run plane schedules.

Since the weekend and continuing for five weeks to 24 April no plane service will fly on the key air route, impacting hundreds of medical appointments for islanders.

The potential delay to islanders needing cancer scans and treatment at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness is the most worrying.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said cancelling the flights was an “appalling business decision and an appalling betrayal” of the communities which Loganair serves.

Mrs Grant said requiring “lead-in” time for customers to re-book is an “abysmal excuse.”

Loganair wouldn’t need lead-in time if it “hadn’t cancelled on its already booked customers to begin with,”she highlighted.

Mrs Grant said: “Islanders already pay one of the highest fares per mile of anywhere in the world. To then have these flights, including those for medical appointments, work appointments and long awaited family holidays swept away at a moment’s notice because another company’s staff are working to their contracted terms and conditions beggar’s belief.”

Isles’ MSP Alasdair Allan also criticised the “completely unacceptable” decision.

“This route is essential for those needing to travel to the mainland for hospital appointments or for work, and it a vital transport link. I urge Loganair to rethink this decision, given the ongoing impact of their decision to suspend this lifeline service.”

Overall around 500 Western Isles patients risk disruption to receiving health services during Loganair’s stoppage. Another hundred or so appointments were threatened but local NHS staff persuaded mainland consultants to travel longer journeys by sea to island based clinics.

Alternative arrangements to travel by ferry - for those enough to travel that way - have been drawn up for people going to Raigmore Hospital.

Loganair said it was “forced” to take such drastic measures action as withdrawal of goodwill rule would have an unpredictable impact on operating plane services for the islands.

The company said it has reviewed “all possibilities” to restore suspended services between HIAL airports and will restart one week earlier than the initially anticipated date of 1 May.

Fury as Loganair continues air travel stoppage on key Western Isles route for another five weeks

21 March 2023