UK regional airline Loganair will, from next month, temporarily lower the frequency on two of its Irish routes – Glasgow to City of Derry and Glasgow to Donegal – as part of its move to improve punctuality and overall operational performance.
From May 10, the Glasgow-Derry route will not fly on Thursdays; while the Friday flight on the Glasgow-Donegal route will be removed. The changes will be in place until October.
The Scottish airline flies between the UK and a number of Irish destinations; including Dublin, Donegal, City of Derry Airport and Belfast City Airport.
Loganair has completed an initial root and branch review of its operation under new CEO Luke Farajallah, and has confirmed it is taking decisive action to stabilise and bring resilience to its core flying network and improve its operational performance, which has been a subject of criticism for some time.
The airline said it has listened carefully to its customers and crew, and under the new leadership team is acting with purpose to address the concerns that have been raised for a considerable time, especially from core markets in remote parts of Scotland.
The airline is announcing several route adjustments, most of which will be introduced in early May 2024. It is expected that these network changes, once embedded, will help reduce the amount of operational disruption that Loganair’s customers and crews have been experiencing for over 18-months.
Loganair said the outcome of these changes will see the stabilisation of the daily flying programme, a reduction in the number of flights delayed and cancelled, and less disruption for the Loganair crews and customers who will be able to book and fly with confidence.
Effective 10th May, the following routes will be removed from the Loganair network:
- Aberdeen to Teesside
- Aberdeen to Newcastle
- Glasgow to Southampton
Several other routes (see below) will see minor adjustments to frequency, in varying stages, until the end of the summer schedule on 26th October.
Luke Farajallah, CEO, Loganair, said: “Since my first day as CEO of Loganair last month, I have been listening carefully to feedback from our loyal customers and hard-working crew, and I want to personally apologise to everyone who has been impacted by the unacceptable levels of disruption that have been experienced for over 18-months whilst the airline has been undertaking a re-fleeting programme.
“We appreciate the changes we are announcing today may impact some customers whose bookings may need to change. While we apologise to customers affected, this decision is one that has been made for the greater good of the vast majority of customers who must be able to book and fly with confidence, especially from some of the most remote parts of the UK.
“Loganair is the UK’s largest regional airline, and we are getting back to the basic principles that have made us successful for over six decades. We are ruthlessly focused on confidently serving our core markets and core customers, who must be able to book with certainty, and experience a stable and resilient flying programme. This is especially true for the Highlands and Islands communities who rely on Loganair for being so much more than an airline serving a leisure market. We have been falling short of the service levels expected of us by our loyal customers and amazing crew for over 18 months, and today we are making changes that once fully delivered throughout the summer will help restore the image and reputation we have fought so hard to generate over so many years as the trusted airline partner in our unique market.
“Our entire team and board of Directors is behind us in making these decisions, and we are all excited about the prospect of getting back to our core set of principles in our heartlands – and we intend to defend and grow our presence in these markets through the demonstration that we can and will deliver consistent operational stability and excellence.”
Routes that will see temporary, minor reductions to services are as follows:
- Edinburgh to Southampton reduced from 4, to 3 x daily
- Inverness to Manchester reduced from 11, to 9 per week
- Inverness to Stornoway reduced from 10, to 9 per week
- Isle of Man to Birmingham Saturday services removed
- Glasgow to City of Derry Thursday services removed
- Glasgow to Donegal Friday services removed
- Newcastle to Southampton reduced from 15 to 13 per week
