Ministers pressed to underwrite Highland air links with London

PRESSURE is building for politicians north and south of the border to introduce sanctions to safeguard air links between the Highlands and London.

Steps for Holyrood and Westminster to tackle the fall-out from Flybe’s sale of its Gatwick runway slots to easyJet for

£20 million have been outlined to UK transport minister Patrick McLoughlin and his Scottish counterpart Keith Brown.

Business leaders are calling on them to work together to look at imposing a Public Service Obligation (PSO) on the route. Mr McLoughlin is also asked to consider a PSO for a link between Inverness and Heathrow, although currently there are no flights on this route.

Used by many European Union countries, PSOs enable scheduled air services to be maintained on routes vital for the economic development of a region.

It comes while there is uncertainty over whether easyJet will retain early morning and evening services between Inverness and Gatwick, which are viewed as crucial for business travellers when Flybe stops operating the flights in March next year.

The letters have been sent by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI), which has been working with the region’s chambers of commerce, Highlands and Islands Airports, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Highland Council and HITRANS.

"Air links between Inverness and London are vital to the economy of the Highlands and Islands and we are continuing to work with easyJet, which is already the largest carrier out of Inverness Airport, to look at what services can be provided going forward," said Fraser Grieve, SCDI’s regional manager.

"Whilst we are working with easyJet, it is vital that both the Scottish and UK governments look at what actions they can take to support these efforts and consider what mechanisms can be used to protect connections into London from Inverness both now and in the long term.

"With the capacity constraints at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, it is clear that without intervention to protect landing slots for regional connections and to enable expansion, our connections will only erode further."

Options are being explored for the UK government to step in to protect Inverness to Gatwick flights, including imposing a PSO.

Flybe operates three flights between Inverness and London Gatwick from Monday to Friday and two on Saturdays and Sundays but states it is no longer economically viable to work with Gatwick.

EasyJet already operates daily flights from Inverness to Gatwick, as well as from Inverness to Luton. It has stressed the company is committed to continuing to provide Inverness with links to London and will look at the routes currently served by Flybe before announcing the timetable for summer 2014 later this year.