Loganair Limited is a Scottish regional airline headquartered at Glasgow Airport in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Primarily operating domestic flights within the United Kingdom, the airline is the largest regional airline in the UK.
In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Inverness. It holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.
History Early years
Loganair was established on 1 February 1962 by Willie Logan of the Logan Construction Company Ltd, operating as its air charter arm with a Piper PA-23 Aztec based at Edinburgh.
In 1967, Loganair took delivery of three Britten-Norman Islander twin-engine eight-seat light commuter airliners and began regular flights between the Orkney Islands, and started operating in Shetland in 1970. In 1966, after Renfrew Airport closed, the airline established its head office at Glasgow Airport.Hutchison, Iain. The Story of Loganair. Kea Publishing, 1987. 82 . Retrieved from Google Books on 30 June 2010. , . This aspect of Loganair's operations ceased on 31 March 2006 when the new contract for air ambulance work was awarded to Gama Aviation.
Between 1968 and 1983, the company was owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, Towards the end of this period, Loganair bought Short 360 and Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft. The company brought jet aircraft into the fleet with two British Aerospace 146s. In December 1983, it became a subsidiary of the Airlines of Britain Group. Further aircraft were added to the fleet: British Aerospace Jetstream 31, British Aerospace Jetstream 41, and British Aerospace ATP aircraft. In the late 1980s, Loganair was the fastest-growing scheduled operator at Manchester Airport, and, in terms of number of flights, was the airport's second-busiest carrier.
After a restructure of British Midland Group in early 1994, Loganair's routes outside Scotland and the aircraft used to operate them were transferred to Manx Airlines. In mid 1994, the airline became a franchisee of British Airways, operating the remaining Shorts 360 and BN-2 Islanders in the British Airways livery. This would stand until July 2008, when it became the new franchisee of Flybe.
In 1996, Airlines of Britain announced it would split its regional airlines into a separate grouping which would enable it to increase its franchise links with British Airways while British Midland looked to increase ties with Lufthansa. The new airline was renamed the British Regional Airlines Group (BRAL), with the British Airways franchise operations of Manx Airlines and Loganair operating under the British Regional Airlines banner.
In 1997, a management buy-out occurred with Loganair becoming independent of BRAL and operating just six aircraft (one de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and five Britten Norman Islanders) with 44 staff.
Operations as Flybe franchise In June 2005, Loganair was awarded a contract from the Irish Government to operate a daily return service from Knock to Dublin. This public service obligation (PSO) route operated for a period of three years as British Airways, with effect from 22 July 2005. The operation ceased in July 2008, the contract having been lost to Aer Arann. The airline also bought routes from Citiexpress in March 2004.
Until October 2008, Loganair was a British Airways franchisee, operating flights sold through BA using BA flight codes. Loganair's inter-island operations between the Orkney and Shetland Islands carried out using Britten-Norman Islanders were removed from the franchise agreement in 2004. The flights have since been marketed under Loganair's own name, rather than British Airways'. Loganair became a franchise airline of Flybe, operating in the Flybe colours. Flights are also operated under a codeshare agreement with British Airways connecting flights from Scotland to London. The franchise has been criticised by residents in the Scottish islands for what they perceive to be excessively high fares, and a Facebook campaign set up in June 2015 to highlight the issue attracted over 7400 "likes" over the course of its first weekend.
Purchase of ScotAirways On 8 July 2011, it was announced that Loganair had agreed to purchase Cambridge based ScotAirways. ScotAirways continued to trade as a separate entity (using its original name of Suckling Airways) and holding its own licences and approvals until April 2013.
Services to Belfast and to Birmingham from Dundee ended on 2 December 2012. After CityJet had terminated its services between Dundee and London City Airport in January 2014, Loganair took over the route, operating from Dundee to London Stansted Airport, with the support of a PSO agreement.
In May 2015, two Viking Air DHC-6-400 Twin Otter aircraft were acquired by Highlands and Islands Airports to be operated by Loganair on the Scottish Government's Public Service Obligation routes between Glasgow and Campbeltown, Tiree and Barra. In August 2015, the airline became part of a new regional airline group, Airline Investments Limited (AIL), along with East Midlands-based airline bmi regional.
On 21 November 2016, Flybe and Loganair announced that their franchise agreement would terminate on 31 August 2017. Despite headlines, it is unclear who initiated the termination.Flybe terminates contract with Loganair BBC News. 21 November 2016 Loganair later relaunched its website without renewed interline agreements with Flybe or Aer Lingus.loganair.co.uk - Scotland's Airline spreads its wings 21 November 2016
In April 2017, pending the termination of the Flybe franchise agreement, Loganair unveiled its new independent corporate livery on Saab 340B Freighter G-LGNN. From 1 September, the airline began operating "in its own right" for the first time in 24 years. Loganair signed a codeshare agreement with British Airways (BA), effective from 1 September 2017 (coinciding with the launch of independent operations), allowing passengers to book through flights onto BA's global network.
Reactions to the demise of other airlines In February 2019, following Flybmi's cessation of operations, Loganair announced that it was to take over Flybmi's routes from Aberdeen to Bristol, Oslo and Esbjerg, from Newcastle to Stavanger and Brussels, and from City of Derry Airport to London-Stansted. A BALPA tribunal into Loganair's swift action following the closure of Flybmi found that the carrier had been acting lawfully, despite the fact that it had created several contingency plans for the demise of UK airlines Eastern Airways and Flybe.
In March 2020, following Flybe's cessation of operations, Loganair announced that it was to take over several Flybe routes from Scotland and Newcastle.
Potential sale In October 2022, Loganair confirmed that the existing sole owners, brothers Stephen and Peter Bond, were seeking a buyer to act as the company's "custodian for the next generation". The sale process was suspended in October 2023, with the Bond brothers retaining their stake while a fleet renewal programme is completed.
Destinations
, Loganair served 44 destinations in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe.loganair.co.uk - Destinations retrieved 23 November 2016 Part of Loganair's operations includes the world's shortest scheduled commercial route, between Westray Airport and Papa Westray Airport, a distance of 1.7 miles, and the use of Barra Airport, the only airport in the world to use a beach as a runway. After the collapse of the original Flybe in March 2020, Loganair took over a number of former Flybe routes from Scotland, the North of England and other parts of the UK, with service beginning as little as 10 days later.
In March 2023, Loganair secured a lease from British Airways for 30 additional slot pairs at Heathrow Airport, previously leased to Flybe before its demise in January 2023, and called on the UK government to reform competition remedies in order to ensure that Heathrow slots remain permanently available for UK regional connectivity.Double Heathrow delight for Loganair Airliner World June 2023 page 8
Codeshare agreements Loganair has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of April 2022):
British Airways KLM
Interline agreements Loganair has interline agreements with the following airlines (as of November 2023):
Aer Lingus Air France Air Transat Emirates Etihad Airways Ethiopian Airlines Finnair Hainan Airlines Icelandair Luxair Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines Turkish Airlines Widerøe
Fleet Current fleet , Loganair operates the following aircraft:
AircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotesATR 42-5004—48ATR 42-6002—48ATR 72-60010—72Britten-Norman Islander218Operated for Orkney Islands Council.de Havilland Canada Dash 6-310 Twin Otter1—19de Havilland Canada Dash 6-400 Twin Otter2—19Operated for the Scottish Government.Embraer ERJ-14510—49Cargo fleetATR 72-500F4—CargoTotal351
Gallery
Fleet development In June 2018, Loganair announced plans to add two additional Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft for summer 2019. The aircraft were to be transferred from sister company Flybmi, and would initially operate flights from Loganair's Glasgow base to Derry and Stornoway. Loganair also planned to use the Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft to launch new routes to European airports not previously served from Glasgow. In November 2018, the company announced that approximately twenty ATR 42 aircraft would be added to replace the Saab 2000 and Saab 340 aircraft in the third quarter of 2019.
In April 2019, its Dornier 328 fleet was withdrawn and stored. Loganair returned the last of its Saab 2000 aircraft to the lessor on 25 March 2020.
Its Saab 340s were retired in January 2024, to be replaced by eight new ATRs which will complement the existing ATR fleet. In January 2024, Loganair announced plans to introduce a hydrogen fuel cell-powered Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander on its Orkney island-hopping routes by 2027. The aircraft could be either a new build or a conversion of one of the airline's existing Islanders.
In September 2024, Loganair announced that it was exploring use-cases for hybrid-electric aircraft as part of an exclusive partnership with manufacturer Heart Aerospace.
At the 2026 Farnborough Airshow, the airline announced its intention to purchase five |BETA Technologies CTOL CX300 electric aircraft for use on its service in the Highlands and islands.
Former fleet +Loganair's former fleetAircraftIntroducedRetiredNotesRefsPiper PA-2319621972Beechcraft Model 1819681975One aircraft (G-ASUG) preserved at National Museum of Flight.Short SC.7 Skyvan19691974Britten-Norman Trislander19731983Replaced by de Havilland Canada Twin Otter.Short 33019791984Replaced by Short 360.Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante1980UnknownFokker F27 Friendship19831988Short 36019832004Replaced by Saab 340.British Aerospace 14619881992BAe Jetstream 3119911994British Aerospace ATP19912005BAe Jetstream 4119931994Dornier 32820132019Acquired from purchase of Suckling Airways.Embraer ERJ-13520192022Replaced by ATR 42/72.Saab 200020142020Replaced by ATR 42/72.Saab 34019992024Replaced by ATR 42/72.
Accidents and incidents
On 12 June 1986, a DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft with 16 people on board struck high ground on the island of Islay in poor weather. The pilots had mistakenly identified the coastal village of Laphroaig as the town of Port Ellen, near Islay Airport. There was one fatality, a pilot.