EXPLAINED: How Inverness-Gatwick flights were saved 10 years ago
Anyone in business, especially tourism, is likely to tell you that connectivity is essential.
That's why there was so much concern a decade ago when Flybe confirmed the sale of its take-off and landing slots at London Gatwick airport to easyJet for £20 million.
The slots included air services to Inverness.
At the time, Jim French, Flybe’s chairman and chief executive, said it was with "real regret and some anger" the company had made the decision and blamed a 102 per cent rise in airport charges and a lack of aviation policy from Westminster.
It prompted business leaders, politicians and the wider community to unify efforts to keep the north connected to London, with campaigns showing easyJet there was an appetite for the early morning and evening flights to be retained.
EasyJet was already Inverness Airport’s biggest user and operated daily flights from Inverness to Gatwick as well as from Inverness to Luton, when the firm bought the slots – but this led to business leaders raising fears that easyJet might not continue to operate all the services.
Back then, Scotland's transport minister Keith Brown described the prospect of cuts to Inverness-Gatwick services as deeply worrying.
Business organisations including Inverness Chamber of Commerce and SCDI, as well as Highland Council and other politicians, also voiced concerns. Meetings were also held with HIAL, which operates Inverness Airport, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Then council leader Drew Hendry – now an MP – said at the time: “The council has, as its top priority, the economy of the Highlands, and these connections are of immense importance to our economy. The slots are crucial for business connections, tourism and inward investment."
The widespread fears that the airline could allocate the slots to more lucrative routes saw it come under intense pressure, prior to it announcing enhanced connections between Inverness and London around a month after purchasing the additional runway slots at Gatwick from Flybe.
The deal, which followed robust discussions among easyJet officials, came after a commercial decision was reached with HIAL, supported by the Scottish Government. It included ensuring infrastructure at the airport was able to house a larger plane overnight. There was no government subsidy involved.
A special easyJet aircraft with tartan livery took to the sky in March 2014 to mark the new services.
Crew and officials also donned a mostly orange tartan, thought to be the first to be registered to an airline.
The 156-seat Airbus A319 aircraft was named ‘Inverness’ and set to operate on easyJet routes across Europe to help promote the Highlands as a tourism destination.
At the time Ali Gayward, easyJet’s head of Scotland, said: “Today we are here to celebrate the long-term future of flights between the Scottish Highlands and London."
The airline still operates flights on the route.
Inglis Lyon, managing director of HIAL, said back then: "The airline has helped revolutionise air travel to and from the Highlands, ensuring that business and leisure travellers are well connected to the UK’s main airports, including Gatwick, and providing access to key markets for businesses across the north of Scotland.
"The airline has shown a real vote of confidence in the Highlands."
