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Flight suspensions at Highland capital's airtport due to Covid-19 restrictions spark fresh fears for future of tourism


By Ian Duncan

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BA's Inverness-Heathrow connection has been suspended.
BA's Inverness-Heathrow connection has been suspended.

Concerns have been raised that suspended flights and a reduced service at Inverness Airport will have a serious impact on the local economy.

In what the airlines insist is only a temporary measure in response to the Covid-19 lockdown imposed on England by the UK government, operators including KLM, BA, Loganair and easyJet have all revised their timetables.

According to the Inverness Airport website, services between the Highlands and Manchester, Birmingham and Dublin are currently not running – yesterday’s Loganair flight to Belfast City was cancelled.

And British Airways has suspended its service between Inverness and Heathrow. There has been no indication when the service will be resumed.

Last week it was announced that KLM had suspended the Highlands’ direct air link with Amsterdam until February as part of a decision to reduce the number of UK services by the Dutch airline over winter.

And, with fewer passengers travelling through the airport it is feared it will have a knock-on effect on businesses based at the site which depend on passing trade, such as taxi companies.

Inverness MP Drew Hendry said: “The current health pandemic is having an enormous impact on our local economy and the travel sector.

“I am acutely aware of the challenges facing airlines but equally so, we need to do all we can to protect flights to Inverness.

“To that end, I am in regular contact with airlines and business leaders to ensure all that can be done to protect these air routes is being done.”

He said Highland businesses were already facing extremely difficult times and losing contracts because of poor transport connections.

David Richardson, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The reduction in air services to Inverness is very sad news, but it’s a sign of the times. Following advice from both governments, travel north from England and the central belt has all but dried up, and businesses that rely on this traffic, which is most in the all-important Highland tourism industry, are very worried.”

A spokesman for Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, which operates the airport, said: “The ongoing pandemic continues to have a significant impact on air travel and the temporary suspension of air services and routes is a regrettable but necessary decision.

“We are in close contact with our airline colleagues and we look forward to connections resuming when it is practical to do so and in line with government and Public Health Scotland guidelines.

“We continue to implement full Covid-19 mitigation measures at our airports and the safety of our colleagues and passengers remains our top priority.

“Customers with specific queries about flights already booked should contact their airline.”

Stewart Nicol, the chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce, said the current situation was very concerning, adding: “It’s not surprising – it illustrates the impact of the restrictions around coronavirus.

“They are all suffering a massive drop-off in demand but we need to make sure that we get them back. All of the routes matter.”

He said getting the British Airways route between Inverness and Heathrow was a massively significant victory for the region in recent years. He said: “It became the best performing domestic route in the UK.”

A spokeswoman for Loganair said: “With lockdown measures in England in place until December 2, demand for travel on Loganair’s routes from Inverness to Manchester and Birmingham has fallen markedly. For this limited period, we have reluctantly taken the decision to temporarily suspend both routes.

“Any customers booked to travel during this period are entitled to a full refund or to change their travel plans to a future date without charge. We look forward to resuming the services as soon as possible, and continue to take bookings on routes for travel from December onwards.

“Loganair’s other services from Inverness to Belfast, Stornoway and Benbecula are unaffected by this decision, which is a direct consequence of the lockdown in England.”

A BA spokesman said: “Following the government’s announcement of a new national lockdown for England, we have been urgently reviewing our schedule for November.”

He said they would be contacting customers whose flights were cancelled to offer refund options.

An easyJet spokesman said it was not able to operate the majority of its UK schedule during the lockdown period.

He added: “We plan to resume our planned flying schedule in early December.”


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