Loganair marks one year linking remote Scottish communities with London-Heathrow

by AvioBlog · 10 Maggio 2024

Loganair, the UK’s largest regional airline, is celebrating its first full year of operations linking Scottish towns and cities with London-Heathrow Airport (LHR). May 10, 2024, marks the first anniversary of the Scottish-based airline flying what it terms “game-changer” routes that connect some of the UK’s most remote communities in the Scottish Highlands and islands with many domestic and international destinations via the London airport.

Through Loganair’s range of codeshare and interline agreements, the airline’s customers can connect through Heathrow to over 90 global destinations.

In May 2023, the airline secured additional highly sought-after take-off and landing slots at Heathrow Airport, announcing that it would operate services from the airport to City of Derry Airport (LDY) in Northern Ireland and Dundee (DND) in Scotland. The latter provides onward connections to remote Scottish communities based in the Orkney and Shetland archipelagos.

Coincidentally, May 2024 also happens to mark two years since the carrier commenced services on the Heathrow to Isle of Man (IOM) route.

The airline offers a three-times daily service to City of Derry, a twice-daily weekday service to Dundee (with one flight on Sundays), and a twice-weekly direct summer service from Orkney and Shetland via Dundee. Meanwhile, Heathrow to Isle of Man flights operate daily.

To mark the anniversary of linking the UK capital with Northern Ireland and Scotland, Loganair’s Chief Commercial Officer Luke Lovegrove traveled to Heathrow to meet with the airport’s Chief Customer Officer Ross Baker, and the pair celebrated the occasion with a specially made cake. Loganair customers embarking on the carrier’s morning flight from Heathrow to Dundee, and onwards to Shetland, were gifted island-made treats.  

“We are pleased to be at Heathrow Airport celebrating one year of what has been game-changer routes for the remote communities we serve across the UK,” said Lovegrove. “These services provide essential connectivity to those regions, unlocking global connectivity and tourism as well as opening up direct access from London to some of the most scenic parts of the UK.”

“It is fantastic to join Loganair to celebrate one year of their services to Dundee, Shetland, Orkney, and the City of Derry,” said Baker. “With a strong start to the year, domestic passenger numbers at Heathrow are the highest they have been in nearly a decade. Loganair is key to supporting this by widening the choice for passengers, opening up connectivity across Scotland and Northern Ireland to the UK’s hub.”

“Regional connectivity is key to unlocking economic growth for every part of the UK, and through our domestic discount, we are proud to support these lifeline routes at Heathrow,” Baker concluded.

According to ch-aviation, Loganair currently operates a fleet of 35 aircraft, comprising a mix of turboprop and jet types. On the turboprop side, the carrier has seven ATR42s and seven ATR72s, plus five ATR72 freighters. It also operates three DHC-6 Twin otters on services to the island of Barra where the aircraft land on the beach at low tide. In terms of jets, the carrier utilizes 13 of the Embraer EMB145 regional type.