Plans to reinstate Dundee flight to London City hub

Dundee’s thriving economy looks set to receive a further boost thanks to plans to reinstate a direct flight to London City Airport, five years after the service was scrapped.

Dundee Airport is built on land reclaimed from the Firth of Tay

The hub hopes to lay on as many as three flights every weekday between the cities, pointing to how the “time is right” for an improved connection thanks to the city’s booming tech, life sciences, and marine energy sectors.

It says the proposed service could be operated by Loganair, enticing those flyers in the city to travel to London to via Edinburgh.

The airport has set out its business case for the Public Service Obligation (PSO) route as part of a tender process being overseen by Dundee City Council, the Scottish Government

Dundee Airport is built on land reclaimed from the Firth of Tay

It invites interested parties to make their case to replace the current twice daily London Stansted service which operates from Dundee.

The plans have been welcomed by politicians in the city, who described the link with the airport as the “missing piece of the jigsaw.”

London City points out that, at its peak, its previous service to Dundee welcomed over 50,000 passengers per year, but says the Stansted service attracts only 21,000 annual flyers. If successful the reinstated route would commence as early as October.

Pete Downes, London City’s aviation director, said: “The time is right for the route to return to London City. After spending time in Dundee I got to see first-hand the renaissance the city is undergoing which makes it highly marketable, not just to tourists who want to visit the V&A or play a round of golf at Carnoustie, but to businesses and investors as well.”

Chris Law, the SNP MP for Dundee West, said: “This is a highly exciting time for Dundee, with hundreds of millions of pounds in new investment and thousands of new visitors coming to our city.

“The link to London City Airport is the missing piece of the jigsaw, if selected by the tender panel, it will offer a faster and more direct route right to the heart of London.

“This would be great news not only for business and tourists, but for the people of Dundee looking to travel to London and beyond.”

He added: “The loss of the link to London City was a huge blow for the city at the time.”