Scottish airline Loganair has announced plans to safeguard UK regional connectivity by taking up 16 routes formerly flown by Flybe following the closure of Flybe.
The 16 routes – from existing Loganair base airports at Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Newcastle – will be launched gradually over the next four months. The routes include: Aberdeen to Belfast City, Birmingham, Jersey and Manchester; Edinburgh to Cardiff, Exeter, Manchester, Newquay and Southampton; Glasgow to Exeter and Southampton; Inverness to Belfast City, Birmingham and Jersey; and Newcastle to Exeter and Southampton. The addition of 16 former Flybe routes to Loganair’s network will see the airline operate up to 400 new services each week, with key routes that will commence as early as Monday March 16. All flights are already on sale at www.loganair.co.uk and via travel agent systems.
Loganair has announced a daily service between Cardiff and Edinburgh, launching on March 23, with plans to increase frequency to 10 flights a week from September 2020.
Spencer Birns, chief commercial officer at Cardiff Airport, said: ‘We are delighted Loganair has stepped in so quickly and recognised the opportunity to facilitate and provide another service for our vital air links between Wales and Scotland by announcing a new daily service between Cardiff and Edinburgh. This is in addition to their recent commencement of flights linking Cardiff and Glasgow which started last week. By adding this additional route, Loganair will quickly become the key airline offering our customers the best choice of flight options between Wales and Scotland, ensuring options to travel from Cardiff remain appealing for our passengers when travelling for business, holidays or visiting friends and family.’
Loganair’s chief executive, Jonathan Hinkles, said: ‘The collapse of a long-standing airline like Flybe marks a desperately sad day, especially for the airline’s dedicated team of employees and for customers facing disruption to their journeys. By stepping in quickly with a comprehensive plan, Loganair is aiming to maintain essential air connectivity within the UK regions to keep customers flying, and to offer new employment to former Flybe staff members who are facing an uncertain future today.’
Customers, who have formerly booked on Flybe services on the same routes will need to make new bookings at www.loganair.co.uk, and obtain a refund via their payment card provider for tickets booked with Flybe. Loganair has no access to Flybe systems or customer data to be able to facilitate re-bookings, it said.
Loganair also has partnership arrangements with several international airlines including Emirates, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Air France, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines. Customers who held a Flybe booking including onward travel with one of these airlines, or as part of a package holiday, will need to contact the travel agent or airline with whom the booking was made to arrange for re-booking onto the new Loganair flights on equivalent routes.
