British Airways franchise partner Loganair has announced a number of service enhancements across its route network as part of its new winter schedule.

The success of the new frequencies introduced in the summer schedule means that many will be maintained through the winter months. The winter timetable will commence on Sunday, October 29. 

The direct Kirkwall to Edinburgh service – no longer stopping in Inverness – will continue, cutting the flying time to only one hour 20 minutes. Passengers flying from Kirkwall to Glasgow will be able to fly non-stop every day, with no transit through Inverness in either direction.

A connection between Kirkwall and the Caithness area will remain with the second daily service from Edinburgh connecting via Wick.

The service from Kirkwall to Inverness will continue to operate twice daily from Monday to Friday. The improved timings on the flights will continue to give passengers a full day in Inverness.

Kirkwall to Aberdeen will operate three services per day. The BA8836 Aberdeen to Kirkwall has been rescheduled to 17:10 and the BA8837 Kirkwall to Aberdeen service has been retimed to 18:30 in order to maintain interline connections.   Additional services have been added during Christmas and New Year to meet forecast demand. 

Shetland’s direct connections with Edinburgh have also been maintained with a second non-stop service. This is ideal for a day return from Sumburgh to Edinburgh and is available on Monday – Friday. There is one flight on a Saturday and Sunday. Sumburgh to Glasgow already has a non-stop service that is available seven days per week.

There will continue to be a day return to both Kirkwall and Inverness from Sumburgh. With an aircraft based at Sumburgh, the service will depart early in the morning and return in the evening. The Inverness flight connects through Kirkwall in both directions.

For passengers travelling from Sumburgh to Aberdeen, there will be four flights a day Monday to Thursday and five on a Friday, with two flights on a Saturday and Sunday. Additional services have been added during Christmas and New Year to meet forecast demand.

The Western Isles will continue to benefit from the continuation of a direct service from Stornoway to Edinburgh every weekday. Two of the three weekday services will still operate via Inverness; however from Monday to Friday the 11:20 departure from Stornoway and the 11:20 departure from Edinburgh will be non-stop – reducing the flying time to one hour and 10 minutes.

Stornoway to Glasgow schedule times have also been improved. Over the winter there will be four flights on a Monday and Friday, three on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Flight times remain as they were through the summer, giving passengers a longer day in Glasgow. At the weekends there will be two services on a Saturday and one on a Sunday at 17:30.

Flights from Benbecula to Glasgow have also been retimed in order to improve connectivity from other areas. For this reason the morning departure from Benbecula has been changed to 10:30. The double daily service remains on a Monday, Friday and Saturday still allowing island residents to visit Glasgow for a day. For both Stornoway and Benbecula additional services have been added during Christmas and New Year.

Loganair will maintain a double daily service on the Glasgow to Islay route during the winter months, and will maintain the Sunday service due to the popularity of the service. Again additional services have been added during Christmas and New Year.

Frequency has also been maintained on the Inverness to Edinburgh route. This service will continue to operate three times every weekday, cutting the commute between the two cities to just 50 minutes. It is the ideal opportunity to do a day’s work in either Inverness or Edinburgh without the long drive. There is also one flight on a Saturday and two on a Sunday.

The flight from Edinburgh to the Isle of Man, which operates six days per week, will be maintained throughout winter. 

Jim Cameron, Chief Executive of Loganair said: “We believe that the winter schedule will provide real flexibility and choice for passengers as we have maintained many of the changes that we added into this summer’s schedule.

“These enhancements mean that local passengers and visitors alike will have more day return options than last year on many more routes. During Christmas and New Year we have added a number of extra services to meet with demand.”

For flight information and booking visit the www.ba.com website.