Deal secures island air services

Loganair already operate services for British Airways

Loganair has announced it is taking over the operation of seven British Airways routes in Scotland.

The move, which will safeguard the future of the services between Scotland, the Western Isles and Northern Ireland, almosts double the size of the independent airline.

The routes involved are from Glasgow to Stornoway, Benbecula, Belfast, the Isle of Man and Aberdeen as well as from Aberdeen to Shetland, and Edinburgh to Belfast.

Loganair already operates all services between the Scottish mainland and Orkney under its franchise agreement with British Airways.

Jim Cameron, chief executive of Loganair, said he was delighted with the new agreement.

We are conscious of the importance of air links to Scotland's island communities, and have therefore reached agreement with Loganair to take over the Scottish routes British Airways

"We are pleased to work with British Airways CitiExpress to ensure that, through our franchise arrangement, these Scottish routes continue to benefit from the worldwide distribution of the British Airways product and brand," he said.

He added: "It is our intention to continue to develop our services, our product and our network for the benefit of our customers, our people and the Scottish economy."

The move is part of British Airways' strategy of removing their smaller ATP aircraft from service.

David Evans, British Airways CitiExpress managing director, said: "Although we have accelerated our decision to withdraw the ATPs to simplify the fleet and allow us to focus on our core business, we have kept our promise to safeguard air links to the Scottish islands.

"We are conscious of the importance of air links to Scotland's island communities, and have therefore reached agreement with Loganair to take over the Scottish routes affected by our decision to cease ATP operations."