Loganair, Scotland’s Airline, has announced its largest ever flight schedule as its services for Summer 2017 go on sale.
The new schedule includes new overseas summer flights between Scotland and Norway and the Faroe Islands, together with more flights and more seats on existing routes.
A non-stop twice-weekly service will link Glasgow and the Norwegian city of Bergen, known as “the gateway to the fjords”. The Glasgow-based airline will operate the new route on Mondays and Fridays from May 5 to September 25 2017. It’s part of a sizeable expansion which will also see the airline’s schedule to Bergen bolstered by extra flights from Shetland and new direct flights from Orkney.
Scotland’s Airline has also revealed the first regular service in recent years linking Shetland and Aberdeen with Vagar, the airport of the Faroe Islands, again starting in May. The service will operate on Fridays and Sundays from May 26 to September 3 2017, and Loganair will carefully evaluate demand on the route with a view to moving to year-round operations in future.
Managing Director Jonathan Hinkles said:
“It’s always a pleasure to introduce new routes, and our links to Bergen and the Faroe Islands are great news for both leisure and business travellers. I’m also certain that we’ll see Norwegian and Faroese visitors taking full advantage of the wide range of leisure and retail options on offer in Scotland.”
Hinkles continued:
“Our summer schedule is a statement of intent as we announce our transition from the Flybe franchise arrangements to become an independent operator from 1 September 2017. As Scotland’s Airline, Loganair is strengthening its network and adding more seats and more flights than ever before.”
The summer schedule, most of which begins on March 26 and for which tickets go on sale today, has a significant number of highlights, including:
- An overall growth of 20% in seat capacity to and from Glasgow.
- A fourth weekday flight between Glasgow and Manchester, plus a new Sunday lunchtime service – providing enhanced connections to domestic UK destinations and the expanding range of long-haul destinations available via Manchester.
- A fourth daily service between Inverness and Manchester, also opening up the wide range of connections available from Manchester.
- An 18% increase in seats between Glasgow and Stornoway through introduction of larger Saab 2000 50-seat aircraft on three of the four weekday round trips – and use of the larger aircraft on selected weekend flights between Glasgow and Benbecula for the first time.
- A third weekday flight from Glasgow to Islay, and a second on Sundays, opening up a wide range of new domestic and international connections to and from Islay.
- New convenient one-stop, same-plane services linking Manchester with Sumburgh and Stornoway, cutting journey times and offering lower fares than connecting flights.
- A second weekly Bergen service from Sumburgh, operating on Tuesdays between May 30 and August 29 and complementing the Saturday service (13May – 02 September)
- A non-stop service linking Kirkwall on Orkney with Bergen on Saturdays between May 13 and September 02 while also operating a complementary Tuesday connection via Sumburgh.
- Expansion of services between Edinburgh and Wick with the introduction of a second flight on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
- A new timetable for Edinburgh-Stornoway services to ensure that the route remains commercially viable despite new charges for airlines being introduced by Edinburgh Airport in April 2017.
- Additional weekend flights between Glasgow and Kirkwall – with a new Friday night southbound service from Kirkwall and an extra Sunday evening return flight, coupled to larger aircraft deployed on Saturday services.
- More seats between Glasgow and Sumburgh through use of larger 50-seater Saab 2000 aircraft on one of two daily flights during the summer.
- Developing use of Glasgow as a hub airport to link Loganair’s Highlands & Islands network with its growing network of services to Manchester and Leeds Bradford.
- Continued expansion outside Scotland with the introduction of a new four-times weekly service linking Loganair’s base at Norwich with the Channel Island of Jersey.