A top boss at regional airline Flybe yesterday hailed the success of its flights between Aberdeen and London City Airport.
Chief commercial officer Paul Simmons said passenger numbers for the route, introduced a year ago – continued to grow, but gave no figures.
The thrice daily rotations initially used 50-seater Saab 2000 aircraft operated on Flybe’s behalf by franchise partner Loganair.
But Mr Simmons said Flybe had since August been using larger and “slightly faster” Bombardier Q400 aircraft on the route, which was now also benefiting from the recent withdrawal of Virgin’s Little Red service between Aberdeen and London Heathrow.
“We have seen a bump from Little Red,” he said, adding that growing awareness of the benefits of London City’s convenient location in the heart of the capital was also helping to persuade more people to fly there.
Flybe stepped in to take over the Aberdeen-London City flights from British Airways, which axed the route after running it at a loss for two years.
But Flybe flights between Inverness and London City ended in February this year, with the airline citing poor passenger figures for a service it had launched just a few months earlier.
Mr Simmons said Aberdeen and Inverness were both key departure points for flights to growing “hub” airports such as Manchester and Birmingham, where a raft of connecting international services were available through code share and interline ticketing agreements.
Exeter-based Flybe operates from all the major Scottish airports and smaller ones in the Highlands and islands through a franchise deal with Paisley-based Loganair.
The company is due to announce first half results on Wednesday, November 11.