UK regional carrier Loganair is moving two regional routes to the country’s main hub at London Heathrow airport.
Glasgow-based Loganair, which announced last month that it had secured extra slots at Heathrow in a deal with British Airways, said it would be launching flights to Derry in Northern Ireland, plus a route to Dundee, Orkney and Shetland in Scotland from early May.
The services from London to Derry and Dundee are government-supported Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes. The Derry service will be moved from Stansted to Heathrow’s Terminal 2 from 6 May, while the Dundee route will switch from London City airport to Heathrow from 7 May.
Loganair’s same-aircraft services from Kirkwall in the Orkney islands and Sumburgh in the Shetlands, via Dundee, will also move to Heathrow as part of the changes.
Jonathan Hinkles, the airline’s CEO, said moving these routes to Heathrow was a “gamechanger for UK regional air services”.
“Alongside excellent ground transport links into central London, the new range of global flight connections will bring new inward investment opportunities and tourism into the UK’s regions, together with enabling travellers to use their local airport to fly worldwide for the first time,” said Hinkles.
Heathrow’s chief commercial officer Ross Baker added: “Our domestic charging discounts will continue to support further growth in our domestic network – which is vital to strengthen our role as the UK’s hub airport, helping to level-up investment across the country, while connecting more people and businesses to global growth.”