Wick-Aberdeen route: Airline racks up £18k taxi bill over cancelled flights
Eastern Airways is coming under growing pressure to resolve ongoing gremlins afflicting its Wick/Aberdeen service.
Passengers expecting a 30-minute flight have ended up making a five-hour-plus journey in the back of a packed taxi.
Some of the latest tales of woe surfaced at Thurso Community Council’s meeting on Tuesday evening.
Highland Council’s Thurso provost Struan Mackie told of the disruption caused to the first leg of his trip to Manchester last week.
He had been heading for a meeting as part of his role as chairman of Dounreay Stakeholder Group.
Councillor Mackie said after the flight to Aberdeen was cancelled, taxis were booked to take him and the other affected passengers south. He said it left the airline picking up the £565 fare.
Community council chairwoman Thelma MacKenzie said she was told of a group who had a similar experience earlier this week.
She said: “They were in Aberdeen and were told their flight to Wick was going.
Related articles:
• Public rage over delayed and cancelled Wick flights – Taxi drivers quids in with £500+ fares
• Airline accused of ‘not caring about Wick’ after late cancellation
• Councillors press for PSO commitment with Wick passenger numbers on the rise
“But when they went to book their bags in about 7.30 in the evening, they were told it had been cancelled.
“The four of them were then put in the back of a taxi for a five-and-a-half-hour drive north.”
The route was reinstated two years ago on the back of a £2 million public subsidy which underwrote a three-year public service obligation.
Councillor Mackie said: “It’s very clear that the service we’re getting is not satisfactory.”
He was unsure whether or not the recent problems are linked to the plane assigned to the route reportedly having been used for charters to Orkney.
It is believed the airline has run up a taxi tab of more than £18,000 as a result of the recent run of cancellations.
Councillor Mackie said the council’s public service obligation officer has been having urgent discussions with the airline to address the run of complaints. Highland Council contributed towards the funding package which got the flights up and running again.
Describing the service as “incredibly fragile”, Councillor Mackie said the rash of cancellations over the past five or six weeks makes it difficult for him “to bat for it”.
He added: “We’re very aware about the frustration there is over this.”
The airport consultative committee has also been seeking to find out what has been causing the problems. Councillor Mackie said he believed Eastern is subject to penalty clauses if its service falls below agreed levels.
But he was keen the airline remains committed to the Wick route.
He said: “Eastern could turn round and hand back the public service obligation. That would be the worst scenario.”
Eastern Airways has been asked to comment.
