widget/exchange-29
widget/exchange-30widget/exchange-33
widget/exchange-31

Business / Loganair confident despite heavy losses in 2019/20

Loganair managing director Jonathan Hinkles.

LOGANAIR says it expects to report a “significantly narrowed loss” for the current financial year after posting losses of £12.7 million for the year to 31 March 2020.

Airline boss Jonathan Hinkles said the onset of the Covid pandemic in March 2020 cost Loganair almost £3 million while the industrial dispute by air traffic controllers at HIAL airport which ran through most of the 2019/20 financial year added a further £2.1 million.

The airline’s fleet replacement programme that saw the retirement of its older Saab 2000 and Dornier 328 turboprops plane led to a charge of £7.5 million, according the company’s audited accounts filed with Companies House.

Turnover, meanwhile, grew from £120 million to £169 million.

In March last year, Loganair took over a number of domestic routes following the collapse of Flybe and has now become the UK’s largest regional carrier with over 70 domestic services plus some to Ireland, Norway and Denmark.

offset-carousel/post-mobile/0

Hinkles said the impact of the pandemic on the aviation sector was “very significant”, but thanks to new income from contract and charter flying as well as the UK Government’s furlough scheme expected better result for the financial year that ends today (Wednesday).

“In addition to our long-standing duties and responsibilities in the Highlands and Islands, we’ve also added new contracts in the oil and gas industry, and stepped in to safeguard 16 routes following the collapse of Flybe,” he said.

“We’ve flown record volumes of mail and cargo through our route network as well, highlighting the increased capacity of our new ATR72 freighter aircraft.”

He continued saying Loganair had managed to re-finance the company with the help of the government’s Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), which, he said, enable the company to “look to the future with confidence”.

“As the UK’s vaccine programme continues apace, we are already seeing modest signs of a recovery in bookings on domestic routes for the year ahead,” he added.

Loganair will resume services on several routes during April, with others following through May and June, the company said.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
widget/pd_widget-6widget/pd_widget-7widget/exchange-53widget/exchange-54widget/pd_widget-8widget/exchange-55widget/pd_widget-9widget/exchange-56

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.