News / Tavish meets Loganair
Shetland MSP Tavish Scott has said he believes Loganair’s attempts to turn around the company and improve the airline’s reliability are genuine.
His comments came after he met with Loganair’s chief executive Stuart Adams and other company top managers on Tuesday.
The airline has come under unprecedented pressure after local people set up a hugely successful Facebook page campaigning for fairer air fares and more reliability.
Scott said he recognised the work the company were doing to improve its performance.
“New people are in post and reliability is being worked on. The airline aims to have 85 per cent of all flights landing and taking off within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. They want to do better than that and everyone who flies wants that too.
“I am pleased that Loganair are introducing a new cheaper, no strings attached fare for people travelling at the last minute due to a family bereavement. This will be introduced on 1 September.
“The Facebook Fair Fares campaign led by Scott and Phoebe Preston has been really important in making the case for this and lower fares more generally.
“Loganair also need help from the Scottish government’s airport owner who run Sumburgh and other airports such as Inverness. Opening hours are critical to the performance of flights into Sumburgh in particular,’ he said.
Scottish transport and islands minister Derek Mackay is also due to meet airline bosses to discuss what the Scottish government can do to help lowering air fares.
The Shetland MSP added: “Along with Shetland’s shipping links to Aberdeen, the air service is crucial for people getting south for hospital appointments, business and leisure.
“So I will continue to press for improved service reliability and local fares and will work with local groups in Shetland to achieve that.”
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