The twice-weekly air route operated between Inverness and Stockholm by Snowflake SAS will stop operating on 23 July 2004.

Passengers booked on the service after this date are being contacted by the airline and offered alternative travel to Stockholm on Scandinavian Airlines SAS service from Edinburgh Airport.

Martin Tiveus, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Snowflake, said: "Regrettably the passenger numbers between Stockholm and Inverness are not proving economical for the size of plane operating on the route. We are disappointed to announce that the service will stop on 23 July 2004 and we are contacting all passengers booked to fly with us after this date to offer them alternative travel to Stockholm from Edinburgh on the recently introduced Scandinavian Airlines SAS service.

"We regret any inconvenience this will cause to passengers and we would also like to thank the many people and organisations in the Highlands who have supported this service," said Mr Tiveus.

Alex Johnson, Commercial and Marketing Manager at HIAL, said: "The passenger numbers on Snowflake's Inverness-Stockholm service are unfortunately not producing sufficient load factors. Both the airline and the airport are disappointed but clearly an airline has to look at its operations in commercial terms.

"We are certain that an operation on the route using a smaller aircraft would have proved successful but this option is not available to the airline. We will, of course, maintain our contacts with Snowflake regarding any future opportunities. We can also demonstrate to other airlines a clear demand for a service on this route that could be operated successfully with a smaller aircraft and will pursue this with other operators."

ENDS