Changes to Wick/Aberdeen flight schedule after 'very encouraging passenger numbers'
Changes are being made to the Wick/Aberdeen flight schedule four months after the service was reinstated, with the first morning departure from Aberdeen moving to a later time and a later departure from the city in the early evening.
Regional airline Eastern Airways, which brought back the Aberdeen link to Wick John O'Groats Airport in April, says it is making "some positive timing amendments" from next month following community feedback.
The company says there have been "very encouraging passenger numbers" since the route was reintroduced, with a 220 per cent increase compared with 2019.
The service is operating under a public service obligation (PSO) with a guaranteed pricing structure and offering connections to domestic and international destinations.
The airline has been gathering feedback from passengers that have been using the service, as well as those that have not. With almost 500 responses, Eastern Airways says it is using the information "to optimise the service timings and make it further accessible to more users".
General manager Roger Hage said: “We are pleased with the returning numbers of passengers using our Aberdeen to Wick John O’Groats service but have recently undertaken some key research and amended our flying programme to significantly better the service.”
As other airlines had adjusted their summer flying schedules, the arrival times at Aberdeen did not always allow for connections to Wick.
Key destinations were identified, including Manchester, Birmingham and London, and the new flight times are in place to mirror arrivals from these destinations at Aberdeen to allow onward travel to Caithness.
The first morning departure from Aberdeen to Wick John O’Groats has been moved from 09:30 to 10:40. This, the airline points out, allows a minimum connection time of 45 minutes for passengers arriving from several key destinations across the UK and parts of Europe.
The inbound connections "have been aligned to allow for maximum connectivity".
Mr Hage went on: “The feedback also showed that a later departure time from Aberdeen in the early evening would offer further connectivity options back to Wick John O’Groats.
"We have pushed our service from a 16:40 departure to 18:20. This allows for those working in Aberdeen to use the service at the end of a typical working day, but also those visiting the city for leisure purposes to have more time to enjoy the attractions before returning.”
The early morning Wednesday service from Wick John O’Groats to Aberdeen has been replaced with a later service on a Tuesday evening. Eastern Airways said the feedback highlighted a requirement in the schedule, particularly for those who would use the service for offshore transport from Aberdeen.
The new schedule is due to take effect from Sunday, August 7.
A long campaign to bring back scheduled links to Wick culminated on April 11 with the first flight to Aberdeen since March 2020. Trudy Morris, chief executive of Caithness Chamber of Commerce, emphasised at the time that the subsidised service operated by Eastern Airways compared favourably with other forms of transport in terms of price as well as convenience.
The chamber was the initial driving force behind the business case for a PSO and worked with others in the Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership to help secure funding for three years from the Scottish Government and Highland Council.