Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP MSP Alasdair Allan has expressed his disappointment at Flybe and Eastern Airways’ decision to end their Stornoway to Glasgow service.

Flybe and Eastern Airways have announced that, effective from 4th March 2018, they will be ceasing their flights between Stornoway and Glasgow, due to lower than expected demand. The flights were introduced in September 2017.

The flight operators have also announced an additional 12 flights per week between Stornoway and Aberdeen.

Alasdair Allan commented:

“Earlier this morning I spoke to Flybe’s Chief Commercial Officer about this decision.

“It is disappointing that competition on the Stornoway to Glasgow route did not become a long-term fixture. However, this was not unexpected news, as both companies seemed to be focused on pushing each other off this route, rather than on providing islanders with a wider choice of times of the day to fly at. This has caused more than a few issues in terms of timetabling and airport arrangements. I very much hope that Flybe’s competitor, Loganair, will now ensure there is the capacity that their island customers need, and stay away from the option of increasing fares. I will be writing to Loganair to seek assurances on this very point.

“The news about Flybe’s services between Stornoway and Aberedeen appears to be more welcome, and I have asked the company to check that the revised timetable works better for islanders working offshore in the oil industry than the old one did, as this has long been a major problem in the past.”