Sunday service from Wick Airport to Aberdeen to be axed
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EASTERN Airways will be scrapping the recently introduced Sunday flight service between Wick John O’Groats Airport and Aberdeen due to “a lack of demand”.
The decision comes three months after the airline had launched the Sunday flights to much fanfare.
In February of this year, Mathew Herzberg, Eastern Airways’ head of commercial, said: “The introduction of Sunday services will open up weekend leisure traffic to Wick, Caithness, Aberdeen and the Grampian region.
“Sunday flights will also benefit business travellers who can now reach Wick and Aberdeen in advance for early Monday morning meetings. The new Sunday services also connect onto a network of services to and from Aberdeen, including Manchester, Birmingham and London Heathrow.”
However, those looking to make early Monday morning meetings and make connecting flights flying out of Aberdeen on a Sunday must now make alternative travel arrangements.
An Eastern Airways spokesperson said: “We have made some changes to the Wick/Aberdeen schedule, reducing from 22 to 18 flights a week from June 11, 2018, to aid connectivity and improve operational resilience.
“The recently introduced Sunday service will be discontinued due to lack of demand.
“However, we will continue to offer a twice-daily Monday to Thursday service and one flight in each direction on a Friday to ensure a more robust, reliable schedule helps to improve punctuality.”
Trudy Morris, chief executive officer of the Caithness Chamber of Commerce, expressed disappointment at the decision.
She said: “We were disappointed to see that Eastern Airways had taken the decision to remove their Sunday service from Wick to Aberdeen after just a few months of operation, citing low demand, and that other aspects of the schedule have also been altered to the detriment of the area – with, for example, only a single flight now scheduled to operate on Fridays.
“While we appreciate that these recent schedule changes are an attempt to ensure continued viability of the Wick/Aberdeen services, this highlights a wider issue with the delivery of regional air services.
“The economics of delivering such services are becoming considerably more challenging and – if we continue with the present model of service delivery – puts the long-term viability of regional aviation in doubt.
“We feel it is time for a radical rethink of how regional air services are delivered and supported and we will be working with members and partners to understand their needs and to lobby both the UK and Scottish governments to ensure that the future of aviation in the north Highlands is secured.”
