Highland games: no BA / Loganair codeshare deal as Flybe launches in competition

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• John says:

  7 Aug7 August 07:43

  These flights are usually ridiculously expensive unless you live in the Highlands and apply for the taxpayer to subsidise your trips.

  Using avios also gets prices down to somewhere reasonable so it would be a shame if redemptions were stopped.

  I’m not sure there is much in the way of brand loyalty – the flights are not that frequent and if you are constrained by time or other scheduled public transport, then you don’t really have a choice as to which airline to take. I’ve had to reschedule Loganair flights to several months later (which they happily did to avoid EC261) when there were 2-3 hour delays as my plans became impossible to complete.

  • Genghis says:

    7 Aug7 August 07:47

    Pricing up with Flybe prior to change and Loganair after, the latter seemed significantly cheaper. We’ve paid c.£80pp GLA-BRR return which I thought ain’t too bad.

• Alan says:

  7 Aug7 August 07:44

  Sounds like a pretty rubbish situation for those living on the islands of they’re not going to be able to buy through tickets anymore. Also clearly disappointing from an Avios perspective.

  • the real harry1 says:

    7 Aug7 August 07:57

    but just imagine it from BA’s position – I bet you those flights suffer more than average disruption due to weather

    duty of care (hotels, F&B, re-routing) would apply – now BA can negotiate its way out of any liability there dumping it on Loganair plus leave the customer responsible for their own luggage after arrival on BA metal

    • dps says:

      7 Aug7 August 09:30

      Flybe/Loganair (ie Menzies) ground staff at GLA were rude and indifferent when our GLA-KOI was delayed 2.5 hours due to earlier flight going technical (NOT, as they naturally insisted, due to weather); but LC crew once we boarded couldn’t have been friendlier or more informative. Let’s hope LC post-BE rebuilds its relationship with BA and teaches them a thing or two about the goodwill airlines earn by giving reliable information, a free cup of tea and a biscuit.

    • Lewis Watson says:

      7 Aug7 August 10:37

      Yip but they handle it well. When I flew to barrage they misjudged the tides. So pilot asked if anyone wanted to get photos of there house from above. There was then a question of people going to cockpit directing the pilots and taking photos. It was kind of sureal

    • AIcatti says:

      7 Aug7 August 13:56

      EC261 obligations are always on the operating carrier

      • the real harry1 says:

        7 Aug7 August 21:22

        that’s my point – that used to be partly BA (OK, shared) but now they can make the EC261 obligations fall squarely on Loganair

        there wouldn’t be a huge amount more to negotiate other than revenue split – which ain’t rocket science

• Andrew says:

  7 Aug7 August 08:37

  The dynamic has changed though hasn’t it with Flybe offering flights to Heathrow from Edinburgh and Aberdeen?

  I’ve certainly been sat next to quite a few Virgin “Upper” Codeshare passengers on Flybe’s EDI-LHR services. They tend to be either shocked or entertained by the experience of the Q400s by comparison to their transatlantic journey. Sometimes wonder if Virgin Atlantic might sponsor a couple of 1+1 seats in their colours at the front.

• James Phillips says:

  7 Aug7 August 08:53

  Interesting – we flew Manchester – Aberdeen – Kirkwall yesterday. Our Manchester Aberdeen flight was about 90 mins late, and I have to say the customer service received at manchester with regards to booking us on the later flight up to kirkwall was absolutely shocking. The woman basically ignored us and scratched her belly saying ‘I’m kinda hungry, when’s lunch….’ The jaws of everyone in the queue practically hit the floor!!
  The staff at Aberdeen, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more helpful and delightful and seemed completely embarrassed when I told them about the behaviour of their colleagues in manchester. I’ve never had a single good experience with Flybe, used them a few times in the last year and have never been within an hour of being on time. I can’t say I blame Loganair at all for going it alone. We’re booked Sumburgh – Edinburgh – LHR on 19th, booked through BA. Hope all’s still ok then…?!

  • Deenesh says:

    7 Aug7 August 09:03

    Yes, you’ll be fine.

  • Peter says:

    7 Aug7 August 21:23

    I think that, in a nutshell, tells you why the Loganair / Flybe relationship broke down.

    By their very nature, Island flights are very prone to disruption due to the weather. This does not fit the Flybe model. The (Loganair) staff in Aberdeen deal with issues like this daily. The (Flybe) staff in Manchester do not.

    Loganair may not be perfect, but they know how to operate in the environment they are in.
    One wonders how long Eastern Airways will suffer Flybe – indeed one wonders how Loganair managed for 10 years.

    • the real harry1 says:

      7 Aug7 August 21:26

      Virgin couldn’t even make mainstream Scotland flights work for very long!

      • the real harry1 says:

        7 Aug7 August 21:27

        https://headforpoints.com/2014/10/08/virgin-little-red-closure-super-cheap-redemptions-big-bonuses-for-booking-where-do-the-slots-go/

• RussellH says:

  7 Aug7 August 09:55

  I assume that the Barra flight still has a Royal Mail contract too, which must help the financing?

  When I lived there, the theory was that First Class post went by plane, Second Class by ferry.

  The reality was slightly different, in that the stamp used seemed to be irrelevant. Residents post always seemed to go by plane; I assumed that tourists post went by ferry.

  • John says:

    7 Aug7 August 17:39

    Second class post from Belfast to me in London always arrives in 1 day, but second class from 5 miles away takes 2-3 days.

• Tony Burns says:

  7 Aug7 August 10:34

  Been a huge amount if comment in the Shetland and Orkney papers with a great deal of involvement of the relative councils. Basically the fear is be lots of cheap flights short tern but medium to longterm not viable to have two airlines on these routes and either one or both could end up pulling out on financial grounds.
  What has always interested me is Loganair and BMI are both owned by the same people yet they don’t seem to cooperate very much.

• Lady London says:

  7 Aug7 August 11:45

  Looks to me like Loganair has pioneered the service and is potentially going to get *****ed by the introduction of a new competitor on these routes which must have a very limited market.

  • Ian says:

    7 Aug7 August 12:17

    In reply to this and another posting about the GLA-BRR route above, the flights were full when I went there last year. I believe that getting a seat (on the 19 seater Twin Otter) can be problematical at times, so I’m looking forward to competition that brings the current high price down.

    • Peter says:

      7 Aug7 August 21:12

      You are not going to see any competition there. Flybe are only competing on the (relative) volume routes between the main cities and Orkney / Shetland / Lewis. They are there to make money – you don’t make much (if anything) flying 19 people a day to Barra.

      Loganair support a whole lot more than that (Barra, Islay, Tiree, outer Orkney & Western isles islands, etc) – hence the local nervousness that competition on principal routes will leave them unviable.

      It’d be nice to see BA support Loganair and continue to serve the whole breadth of the British Isles via codeshare but I won’t hold my breath. We all know BA will take the best financial decision for BA. However It’d be a pretty brave decsion entrust lifeline services to Flybe given the calamity that is that airline – just ask their long suffering shareholders.

  • JamesB says:

    7 Aug7 August 18:40

    There was some noise earlier this year that Loganair themselves had plans to grow their business more aggresively but time will tell.

• TigerTanaka says:

  8 Aug8 August 04:12

  Logan air coming yo Durham Tees Valley (Teesside) – going head to head with Eastern on MME-ABZ (3 daily) and introducing MME-NWI daily.

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