Scotland flights: Airlines axe routes from Scottish airports

Sector commentators predicted there would be a wave of new routes as airlines hungry for revenue crossed paths with destinations where marketers are working directly to rebuild their own economies with mutually beneficial arrangements.

I wrote this month that one airline pared back half a dozen routes from two Scottish airports to destinations across Europe in a move that reminds onlookers that the industry remains very much in a state of flux.

Ryanair withdrew routes from Scotland to France, Spain and Italy in a move a spokesman for the airline told The Herald had come after a review of seasonal routes.

Horse-trading on air routes of course is nothing new, and there is an excitement about the potential new additions a traveller’s nearest airport might provide.

However, there can also be concern in communities and among business passengers over the ending of services.

Scottish airline Loganair put its position into perspective this month when it told how it was working with airports in an effort to keep remaining services going after a series of route closures and suspensions.

The Glasgow-headquartered carrier cited a rise in air traffic control charges by 33% as part of the reason for a rethink on routes to and from Scotland.

Jonathan Hinkles, chief executive of Loganair, was critical of the Civil Aviation Authority's approval of the National Air Traffic Services' move to introduce a charges increase of 26% with "the average charge forecast to increase from £47 in 2022 to £64 in 2023 to 2027 inclusive".

Jonathan Hinkles took the opportunity to put the Loganair position forward (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Hinkles said that, so far this year, Loganair has paid £1.1 million more - a 33% increase - to fly the same number of customers on the same number of flights through UK airspace as last year.

The CAA said the average cost of UK en route air traffic control services by around £0.43 to £2.08 per passenger per flight. "Treble those numbers for UK domestic regional air travel and you're in the right ballpark," said Mr Hinkles.

Mr Hinkles said there will be an "impact on consumers through loss of choice as some regional air routes become unviable through these charges".

Loganair cut routes from Inverness to Birmingham and Inverness to Dublin and suspended routes including Dundee to Kirkwall and Aberdeen to Oslo.

The Scottish airline said: "Despite considerable efforts under way to reduce costs, including those forced upon us by NATS for air traffic control services, the current soft market conditions regrettably mean that a number of our routes have been suspended or have ceased operation.

"Loganair remains fully committed to all airports affected and we continue to work closely with all our partners to safeguard remaining services."

The increase will allow NATS "to recover revenues from the period affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which the regulator has spread over 10 years to reduce the impact on charges," the CAA said.

The company had £10 billion of new orders in four months (Image: BAE Systems)

Geopolitical instability that has led to warfare has driven growth in defence industries. UK giant BAE Systems this month pointed to progress on its vast new shipbuilding hall in Scotland as it posted a trading update that showed £10 billion of new orders in four months.

I reported the company said it remains on track for a surge in annual earnings as countries increase military spending amid the conflict in Gaza and Russia's war on Ukraine.

The group recorded around £10bn of orders since the end of June, taking its total for the year so far to more than £30bn.

The private giant that operates key defence facilities in Scotland has hailed a major agreement that will centre on the future of conventional submarine warfare.

Also in this round-up of my working month, Babcock International, which employs 3,500 people north of the Border, inked a memorandum of understanding with Seoul-based major Hanwha Aerospace "with an initial focus on opportunities to cooperate on conventional submarines", in another sign of the times.