Loganair ‘absolutely not’ profiting from fuel surcharge, airline says
LOGANAIR has “absolutely not” profited from a fuel surcharge on its air fares, the company has said.
A recent report in the Stornoway Gazette, which was also reported locally, claimed Loganair had earned £2.1 million in excess revenue over the past six months as a result of the surcharge.
Despite what was reported this week, the fuel surcharge has been in place for over four years – first being introduced in March 2022.
However Shetland News reported in May that the surcharge had more than tripled on some routes, with Loganair blaming a massive increase in the cost of jet fuel driven by the war in the Middle East.
The surcharge was £5.50 on a one-way flight to Glasgow in October 2025, but that had increased to £17 as of May 2026.
Loganair officials were questioned about the fuel surcharge at Wednesday’s meeting of the Scottish Government transport committee.
The airline’s chief commercial officer Ronnie Matheson said he could not comment on the £2.1m figure being quoted as he had not seen the dossier which was being reported to include the calculation.
However he said it was “absolutely not” the case that Loganair was profiting from its fuel surcharge.
Matheson told the meeting that Loganair was set to make a lower profit per passenger this year than it had in previous years as a result of the rising cost of fuel.
And he said many people who were booking flights in advance would pay a lower fuel surcharge than the cost of fuel when the flight runs in months to come.
Asked if Loganair was profiting from the fuel surcharge as a result of fuel hedging it had been able to do, Matheson said that was “not the case”.
“We will not be making large profits off fuel surcharges at all – that simply will not be the case,” Matheson added.
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Loganair officials were also grilled on a pay dispute between the airline and union Unite over a small number of cabin crew, as reported yesterday.
Green MSP Iris Duane said that cabin crew were being paid £26,000 a year by Loganair, and she questioned whether this was too little.
Matheson said that they paid a “market rate for cabin crew” and added that they “pay fairly for that role”.
He pointed out that four airlines in the UK had entered administration in the past year and said they were operating at tight financial margins.
The COO said that their cabin crew were “incredible” and said they were confident of a resolution to the dispute.
Matheson also said he was confident that their flights would not be affected even if strike action moves ahead.
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