‘The trouble is you can’t rely on it’: New push for better air connectivity for Caithness

A new group has been set up online to push for better connectivity for Caithness against a backdrop of recurring problems affecting flights between Wick and Aberdeen.

The move comes after three cancellations within a week following the recent announcement of continued Scottish Government funding for the route.

Jacqueline Innes created a Facebook group for those who rely on the service which is operated by Eastern Airways under a public service obligation (PSO).

Mrs Innes, from Reay, felt there was a need to bring together statistics and passenger experiences to highlight the “shoddy” nature of Wick’s air links when compared with national average figures on delays and cancellations.

She even suggested that building a causeway over the Pentland Firth to access the better-connected Kirkwall Airport might be a more effective use of public money.

Her group, Eastern Airways – Caithness Tracker, already has more than 400 members.

Mrs Innes and her husband Ian are regular users of the Wick/Aberdeen service.

“We use the flight and we think it works great when it is going,” she said. “We go regularly on trips to Aberdeen.

“When it goes, it’s fantastic – 40 minutes versus five-plus hours in the car.

“I do think it’s a shame we still don’t have the flight that went to Edinburgh, although I think Glasgow would be better because it is connecting you to a bigger airport.

“But it’s the only one we’ve got, and they keep on drumming out this ‘use it or lose it’. We’ve always tried to support it.

“It works well for us when it goes well, but the trouble is that you can’t really rely on it.

“Somebody in my group said it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy, no-one is using it. But nobody is using it to the degree they would be if it was a bit more reliable.”

Flights between Wick and Aberdeen were reinstated in April 2022 under a PSO funded by the Scottish Government (£1 million a year) and Highland Council (£300,000).

The continuation of government funding into the financial year 2025/26 was announced on March 13.

In 2023 Highland Council imposed contractual penalties on Eastern Airways after finding that the level of service had fallen “below expectations” over a two-month period.

Changes to the schedule were announced last October in an effort to improve reliability after a series of complaints. The changes included reducing flights from twice a day to once a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, with morning and early evening departures continuing on Mondays and Fridays.

However, frustrated passengers have continued to raise concerns.

Mrs Innes said: “I just want to improve the connectivity, and if that improves it’ll build up confidence again and people will use the route.

“For years you would always hear stories about how unreliable the service was, people groaning about a six-hour taxi home – but I thought nobody is tabulating it, nobody is keeping track of this.

“I thought, going forward, that’s what I am going to do. I’m going to say: these are the flights, these are the statistics. Then we can go and present this and say, ‘Look at this, this is really shoddy compared with the national average.’

“Everybody is hearing this person’s experience, that person’s experience, and you’d experience it yourself. For example, the last time I took a taxi north because of a cancelled flight, there were two taxis and the other taxi had done the journey five or six times that week. I was just thinking ‘this is absolutely shocking’.

“Ultimately what I want is to get better connectivity. But also there is £1.3 million of public money, so that’s not giving good value back to the taxpayer if the service is so shoddy.

“I know they are islands but if you look at Orkney and you look at Stornoway, they have multiple flights daily to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness… I think Orkney even does a London flight now.

“Honestly, they’d be better off putting the money towards a causeway and letting us get over to Orkney – we’d have more options then.”

The aims of the Facebook group are “to keep each other informed, hold services accountable and push for better connectivity for our community”. Users are asked to keep their contributions “respectful and fact-based”, helping to work towards “positive change”.

Meanwhile, morning flights are no longer operating on a Monday or a Friday.

Following a request from Highland News & Media, a revised Wick PSO timetable was provided by Highland Council on Tuesday afternoon. It covers the period from Monday, March 24, to Saturday, October 25:

Aberdeen to Wick – Monday: 1430. Tuesday: 1430. Wednesday: 1430. Thursday: 1430. Friday: 1530. Saturday: No flight. Sunday: 1430.

Wick to Aberdeen – Monday: 1535. Tuesday: 1535. Wednesday: 1535. Thursday: 1535. Friday: 1635. Saturday: No flight. Sunday: 1535.

Speaking after the PSO announcement earlier this month, Scotland’s minister for connectivity Jim Fairlie said: “We are pleased to be providing up to £1 million to Highland Council to support the continued operation of the Wick to Aberdeen air service.

“In addition, we will continue to provide support to Highlands and Islands Airports Limited for the ongoing operation of Wick John O’Groats Airport.

“This is a significant financial commitment and demonstrates the importance we continue to place on supporting the Caithness area.”

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