Loganair fare increases add £2.5m to Scottish government bill for islanders' half-price travel
Total increases by nearly 20 per cent in a year despite fewer passengers travelling
Loganair fare increases on island routes are costing Scottish taxpayers millions of pounds more in additional subsidy - even though fewer passengers are travelling.
Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request show the cost of a Scottish government scheme to give islanders half-price tickets increased by £2.5 million - nearly 20 per cent - in a year, while 3,000 fewer people were carried.
The cost of the air discount scheme (ADS), which was introduced 20 years ago by the then Scottish Labour-Scottish Liberal Democrat administration, increased from £13.26m in 2024-25 to £15.76m in 2025-26.
The subsidy per passenger to the Glasgow-based airline increased from £74.33 to £89.35. Since 2022-23, the per passenger increase in ADS subsidy has gone up by 44 per cent.
The revelation comes a month after the Scottish Government stepped in to provide Loganair with an extra £1.3m to restore Inverness flights to Lewis, Orkney and Shetland from October after they were withdrawn in July.
It followed an outcry over one of two daily Inverness-Stornoway flights being grounded along with weekday flights between the Highland capital and Kirkwall and Sumburgh.
NHS Western Isles had warned MSPs in June that eye patients could go blind by being deterred from attending health appointments if they had to stay overnight in Inverness rather than being able to fly back the same day.
Loganair’s fares have risen to the point at which an unsubsidised return fare booked at relatively short notice can cost more than £650 between Glasgow and Stornoway or Benbecula.
Since 2012, the ADS has been restricted to leisure traffic, with the Scottish government arguing that restoring the discount to business travel is “unaffordable”.
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat convener of the Scottish Parliament’s transport committee, said: “These figures make it imperative that there is further investigation into how our flights to the islands operate. To pay more for less raises lots of questions.
“The government responded positively to the recent reductions in services from Inverness but I think everyone accepts that we need a more sustainable and stable arrangement”.
Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) Scottish Labour MSP Donald MacKinnon said: “ADS represents a significant public investment in our air services but with very limited public control over the outcomes.
“Loganair is left to set prices as they see fit while air travel is increasingly beyond the reach of many islanders even with ADS.
“The debacle over the Stornoway–Inverness flights, along with the ever-increasing cost of air travel and unworkable timetabling, all point to the need for the Scottish government to get a grip on Highlands and Islands air travel.
“We need an air service that works for islanders and that’s certainly not what we’re getting at the moment”.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “The ADS improves social inclusion across the Highlands and Islands by reducing the cost of high air fares in these areas.
“Ministers remain committed to reviewing the ADS, to consider how it could be made fairer and more effective, and provide value for money.”
The Scottish government agency said the cost of the scheme was determined by the number of people travelling and the cost of the ticket, with prices set by airlines, which would “vary depending on market conditions”.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.