Transport / NorthLink opens 2026 booking schedule – but prices to rise too
NORTHLINK has opened its booking schedule for 2026, with price rises also set to affect passengers.
The ferry operator announced today (Monday) that passengers could now book for journeys in 2026, following months of complaints about the delay in the schedule being opened.
It also comes less than two weeks after first minister John Swinney proclaimed he was “dumbfounded” as to why islanders could not book travel on the ferries for 2026 yet.
While the news of the 2026 bookings being open will be welcomed, further price rises will not.
The price for an adult passenger using islander discount and travelling in peak season on the Aberdeen-Lerwick route will rise from £28.50 to £29.50 from next year.
That cost rises from £18.55 to £19.20 in low season, and from £23.45 to £24.25 in mid-season.
Likewise the cost of all cabins is also set to go up.
For example an inner two berth, NorthLink’s cheapest option for passengers looking for a cabin, will go from £85 in peak season to £88 from 1 January 2026, again with islander discount applied.
Other cabin prices are also set to rise, with the price of an outer two berth cabin in peak season up to £116 from £112 previously.
An inner four berth cabin will also go from £110 in the summer months to £113 for next year.
Child prices will go up slightly from £14.10 in peak season to £14.55.
There are also price rises on the Kirkwall-Lerwick route, from £17 to £17.55 for an adult travelling on the route in peak season, and from £8.55 to £8.80 for 5-15 year olds.
The price of sleeping pods, on both the Aberdeen-Lerwick and Kirkwall-Lerwick routes, will not change at all in any of the three booking periods.
Swinney promised last month he would personally investigate the hold-up with NorthLink bookings being opened.
It came after he was grilled at a public event in Lerwick about the delay, which has been raised publicly on several occasions by MSP Beatrice Wishart.
Talking after that event, the first minister pledged to find out why bookings had not been made available.
“There’ll be a reason, no doubt, but when the first minister starts putting a spotlight on things there’s got to be an awful good reason,” Swinney said.
“That’s the fair warning to people there’ll be some questions coming down the road. We’ll see what comes from that.”
The reasoning given is usually that Transport Scotland officials need to wait until updated consumer price index (CPI) figures are released before setting fares, which then allows operator NorthLink to open up more bookings.
With the CPI announcement made on 18 June, Wishart had previously pushed the Scottish Government to open up the schedule as soon as possible.
Passengers were only able to book NorthLink ferry journeys for 2025 in late October 2024.
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