Loganair, Scotland’s airline, has announced the first scheduled flights between Shetland and Norway after a gap of three years.
The introduction of twice-weekly flights between Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city, and Shetland strengthens links which were first established more than 800 years ago.
The new route, which will be introduced on Saturday June 7, 2008, will run on Saturdays and Tuesdays through to August 30th and It is hoped that this is the first stage in developing the route for the future.
Today’s announcement follows a period of significant planning and is a direct response to customer demands following the withdrawal of the Smyril Line service between Shetland and Bergen last year.
Peter Tierney, chief executive of Loganair, said: “Shetland is a very important market for us and having listened to our customers, we have decided to take this step of introducing a new route to Bergen.
“The strong cultural and ethnic links that already exist between the two destinations makes the launch of our new route an obvious development for Loganair. It is also expected to contribute significantly to the local economy by supporting industries that employ many Shetlanders, such as agriculture, fishing, tourism and energy industries.”
Inglis Lyon, managing director of Highlands and Islands Airports said: “We are delighted to have been able to work with Loganair on the introduction of direct flights between Shetland and Norway.
“Given the strong cultural and economic links between the islands and Norway we hope that the new summer Bergen service will prove a popular addition to the destinations offered by the airline from Sumburgh.
“Sumburgh’s traffic is up 14% on last year so far due to the airline’s increased schedules and we look forward to the Bergen link continuing this positive business trend in the summer,” added Mr Lyon.
The new route is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the local economy as it will provide quick, easy, reliable transport for residents, tourists and businesses that want to travel between Shetland and Bergen.
Andy Steven, area director for VisitShetland, said: "It's great to see the return of the Loganair service between Bergen and Shetland.
“There are strong cultural links between Shetland and Scandinavia, and it’s important to have good access between the two destinations. We look forward to working closely with Loganair to promote this route.”
For over 40 years, Loganair has been providing air services throughout the Scottish Highlands and Islands and last year carried more than 500,000 passengers primarily on its Scottish Highlands and Islands scheduled service network.
Loganair will operate the Bergen flights this year as a British Airways Franchise Partner and reservations can be made on www.ba.com with fares on the route ranging from £59 to £145 one way, including taxes.
RSS feed available