By Karen Peattie

THE chief executive of Loganair, the only airline headquartered in Scotland, has spoken about the challenges facing airports as they recover from the pandemic, expressing concern about their “viability and sustainability”.

Jonathan Hinkles, speaking on the Go Radio Business Show with Hunter & Haughey, said: “It is how can they sustain the huge infrastructure they need to be a safe, secure airport on a vastly reduced number of people going through it. That is going to be a real challenge in the short term.

“I am more concerned about the viability and sustainability of some airports in the short term than actually from an airline’s perspective because we need airports to fly to.”

Building back from the pandemic, he said, would be challenging for both airports and airlines. However, Mr Hinkles added: “Business travel, which is a mainstay for a lot of airlines, will be reduced and we will have to adapt our businesses to that. The number of flights and the type of schedules – we are going to need to take stock of that.”

Asked his views on Covid passports for international travel by Lord Willie Haughey, founder of Glasgow-based City Holdings Group, he said: “I think it is going to be an awful lot more than that required for getting international travel back running again. I’ve sat through sessions with both the Scottish and UK governments in the past few days and I think there is a view that Covid passports are divisive and we can’t have them here.

“Looking at the travel restrictions coming in with the traffic lights system … it is going to be very difficult for people firstly to understand what they need to do to navigate their way through the path.” Time and cost were also considerations, he noted.

Mr Hinkles said he was hopeful of a recovery in domestic travel and welcomed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement last week that travel to and from mainland Scotland and the islands will be permitted from April 26. “We saw an immediate surge on our telephone lines even before the First Minister had finished speaking,” he said.

But he critised clinical experts who had a habit of saying “I wouldn’t book a holiday if I were you”. Mr Hinkles said: “The travel industry is very susceptible to the messages government gives, more so than I think government realises.”

Airlines and travel companies, he pointed out, had put a great deal of time and effort into systems to enable customers to makes changes and get refunds if they can’t travel. “Leave that to us and focus on getting the structures in place so people can travel,” Mr Hinkles continued. “If that includes Covid passports, fine, but it will be more than that because it is not just about what happens in the UK – it is about what happens in the countries to which you travel as well.”

Loganair, which celebrates it 60th anniversary next year, has operated throughout the pandemic, its distinctive tartan-tailed aircraft particularly familiar in the Highlands and Islands where it operates services on lifeline routes which are essential for communities and undertakes an extensive range of contract services for Royal Mail plus oil and gas companies. Indeed, it has been one of the busiest in Europe, Mr Hinkles noted, promising that when in-flight service resumes on flights, passengers will be able to once again enjoy a Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer.