According to Highland Council leader, FLYBE did not give its scrapped Inverness to London City flights sufficient time for establishment before pulling the plug. In an announcement given by the regional airline, flight services are expected to be suspended by the end of February as a result of very low passenger numbers using the services.
This comes just two months after the launching of the services at Inverness Airport in October last year. This service will be stopped from 22nd February 2015.Highland Council leader, Drew Hendry, reacted on twitter saying he was shocked by the decision and promised to look into the matter.
On the other hand, David Stewart who is the Highlands and Islands MSP and shadow transport minister described the scrapping of the services as “a body blow to the Highlands”. He said that it was unfortunate for Flybe to stop Inverness to the London City service. He said the route was praised by many and in particular by people who are in the local business, recognising the economic value of the service.
He also said that it is important to maintain both domestic and international air connectivity in the Highlands and Islands. He believes that it is through this that business investments and tourism industry can be supported and the closure of this service will impact negatively on them.
Residents have also shown their concerns over the closure of the service. They say they are surprised and frustrated arguing that high prices were the cause of the failure of the service. Katie Rhind commented on the Inverness Courier’s Facebook page saying that the decision was a complete backwardness since Inverness is among the fastest growing cities in the entire Europe and it was therefore not sensible to suspend the flights.