Sky's the limit as Loganair announces Flybe link-up

Published on Sunday 2 March 2008 20:46

AS ONE of the longest established airlines in the UK, Glasgow-based Loganair is finally reaching for the skies. With the ink on the paper still drying, a franchise deal with larger airline firm Flybe expands the destination network and opens the door to European connections.

Last year Loganair carried more than 515,000 passengers – primarily on its Scottish Highlands and Islands scheduled service network. For Loganair's chairman Scott Grier, it has been a turbulent flight. He believes the Flybe deal provides a welcome boost and is a significant step for the company which now faces a "certain future" for the 350 staff.

Grier should know; he has worked for Loganair, known as "Scotland's Airline", since 1975. Beginning his career with the airline as a chartered accountant, he completed a management buy-out in March 1997 and is now the majority shareholder and chairman. Last year, the company banked a 59 per cent rise in pre-tax profits of 3.5 million and turnover was up slightly to 48.9m, 2 per cent higher than the previous year.

A long-standing franchise deal with British Airways is due to finish in October. Loganair was previously owned by British Midland, now Bmi.

Grier said: "Since we started in 1962, more than 50 airlines have come and gone, so it is a testament to everyone involved that we are still here. It gets in the blood and I just can't imagine not working here."

In 1997, with just one De Havilland Twin Otter and five Britten Norman Islanders, the company he says "found strength in its origins and its pioneering spirit," and under his guidance dedicated itself to the provision of air services in Orkney, Shetland and to the West coast of Scotland.

"It has been a rollercoaster and for me the hardest part was in the mid 1990s, when we purchased aircraft costing 12m each, and then did not win the routes. We then had to transfer the business to the Isle of Man and it was awful. It was a bleak time and we had to pay off staff. It was the saddest day of my life. However, when we finally won control of the company, it was time to look at what we were good at and go back to our original premise. We are now in our 11th year since the buy-out and we made only one loss, in year three. We are profitable and eager to expand. We are here to stay," said Grier.

Despite the furore about carbon footprints, Loganair provides remote island communities in the Highlands and Islands region with a commercial lifeline, making trade and tourism feasible, and up until recently an air ambulance service. Famous for operating the world's shortest scheduled flight, the two-minute hop between Westray and Papa Westray in Orkney, the company also provides a daily flight from Glasgow to Barra, which is the only known scheduled route to land on a beach.

Grier says he wants to leave behind an airline Scotland should be proud of.

He added: "We have come a long way, but it is business as usual and when the franchise deal begins with Flybe in October, I'm sure customers will notice we are aiming to offer a great service.

"We can't compete with the Ryanairs of the world, but we can improve on our reliability and punctuality."