Transport minister flight delay

Scottish transport minister Derek Mackay received a taste of island travel disruptions when his Loganair flight to the Western Isles was delayed by several hours.

Mr Mackay - who is also Islands Minister - was stuck in Glasgow when he should have been on Lewis to announce a consultation towards new legislation for a “fairer future” for islanders.

After disembarking at Stornoway airport, he said he had previously raised wider issues of flight delays with Loganair.

Last week, the airline’s chief executive, Stewart Adams, pledged the firm must do better to tackle so many disruptions.

Mr Adams said he has ordered an in-depth review of the whole company structure while the input of external management, looking at issues “through fresh eyes” has been beneficial.

A Loganair spokesman said: “Flight BE6820 pushed back from the gate at Glasgow Airport at 8.10am following a delay in getting the aircraft to the gate due to weather, en-route to Stornoway.

“The de-icing system warning light activated during the pre-flight check, the aircraft returned to the stand and the passengers disembarked.

“A 50-seat Saab 2000 scheduled to complete the next service on the rotation was sent to Glasgow within 30 minutes, but localised fog meant the aircraft was in a holding pattern for nearly 90 minutes until weather conditions improved.

“This aircraft transported some of the passengers from both morning services.

“An additional, Dornier 328 aircraft was then dispatched from Dundee to transport the remaining passengers from flight BE6820.

“Loganair would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused by this morning’s disruption, but every effort was made to get them to Stornoway at the earliest opportunity.”

Transport minister experiences island flight delay

30 September 2015