Faroese airline Atlantic Airways has confirmed that it will operate a summer programme of twice weekly return flights from June next year linking the Faroes with Sumburgh and Sumburgh with London Stansted airport.

The service has qualified for support from the Scottish Executive’s Air Route Development Fund.

The new service will operate between 23^rd June and 4^th September. It will be operated with a BAe 146 jet aircraft (capacity 90 passengers) with a twice a week service – Friday and Monday.

Scottish Transport Minister Tavish Scott said: "This is an extremely important development for Shetland and the Shetland economy. A direct link to London will give Shetland businesses and local people a real advantage.  It will also be a great link for the Islands tourism industry. 

“It will provide opportunities for weekend and longer breaks in Shetland from the south east avoiding the need to route through another airport.

"I am very pleased that the devolved government of Scotland's route development fund which supports new air links, has assisted with this important connection."

The news was welcomed by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited who have been in discussions with the airline for more than two years.

Inglis Lyon, HIAL’s managing director said: “This is great news for Shetland and will open up a host of new travel opportunities for local residents, businesses and promoting inbound tourism.

“This is the second service from Shetland to receive RDF support, following on from Wideroe’s summer programmes to Norway this year and last year, and demonstrates the effectiveness of the fund in supporting the commercial development of new air links for the Highlands and Islands. The development of new east-west routes for the Northern Isles is a priority for us and this new service combines this objective with direct air access to an important London airport from Shetland for the first time.

“This is exactly the type of business development we aim to achieve at Sumburgh in the future, supported by the runway extension, the Scottish Executive and our stakeholders in the Sumburgh Airport Strategic Partnership,” said Mr Lyon.

For flight information and booking visit the http://www.atlantic.fo/ Atlantic Airways website.