Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Job losses ‘inevitable’ as Tui axes Aberdeen flights

Post Thumbnail

Aberdeen International Airport has announced further job losses will be “inevitable”, as TUI axes more than half of its flights to the north-east following “lack of clarity” from Scottish Government.

The UK’s largest holiday provider has today confirmed that it will reduce its summer programme from Aberdeen this year due to the continued uncertainty surrounding travel.

It comes after the Scottish Government set out a roadmap for the country to gradually come out of lockdown over the next two months.

However, speaking to parliament yesterday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon didn’t provide any specific details on when and how international travel would be allowed to resume as normal.

Aberdeen International Airport

‘Lack of clarity from government’

In response to the announcement, travel agency Tui has decided to reduce its flights to Aberdeen airport from ten to four each week during the summer.

The company will continue to take customers on summer holidays from the city to Dalaman, Corfu and Palma, but will no longer have an Aberdeen-based aircraft.

Richard Sofer, commercial and business development director at Tui, said: “We know how important our regional flying programme is to our customers and their local communities, which is why we are incredibly sad to confirm we’ve had to reduce our summer holiday programme from Aberdeen.

“We feel that we have no choice, and this is the unfortunate impact of the continued lack of clarity from government, which we know also affects local jobs and families.

“We’d like to thank our local customers and colleagues for their patience, understanding and ongoing support throughout these difficult times, and we are really looking forward to resuming our full holiday programme from Aberdeen soon.”

Need for better recovery plan

Derek Provan, Chief Executive of AGS Airports Ltd.

Derek Provan, chief executive of AGS Airports, said more needed to be done with the industry to develop an effective recovery plan from what has been a devastating year for the sector.

He said: “This is hugely disappointing news from TUI, however, the airline has stated it has been left with no choice due to the lack of certainty from the Scottish Government.

“Unfortunately, further job losses will be inevitable unless government works with industry to develop a recovery plan.

“We urgently need an exit plan that sets out how we can work towards the safe restart of international travel.

“This is exactly what is happening in England where, following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday, airlines are already seeing a huge spike in demand.”

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced international trips could potentially resume from May 17, if there was no resurgence in coronavirus and vaccination programmes went well.

Pictured are travellers at Aberdeen International Airport.

Airlines and travel companies – including EasyJet, Ryanair, Tui and Thomas Cook – have since reported a surge in holiday bookings to a range of summer destinations.

In response to Tui’s announcement, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We want overseas holidays to resume as soon as it is safe and we will not keep the current restrictions in place a day longer than is necessary.

“But, as the First Minister has made clear, it is too soon to put a date on when that may be possible.

“We have extended the 100% non-domestic rates relief for the aviation sector for all of 2021-22 and we’re also working with airports on route recovery, to help rebuild connectivity for business and tourism once we are able to safely lift travel restrictions. This will help win back routes and employment opportunities.

“The vaccination programme is a significant milestone in our fight against the virus and we are focused on protecting and creating jobs across the economy.

“On top of £3 billion in immediate support for business, we have committed more than £1.2 billion to economic recovery with further investment set out in our draft budget.”


Read more: