LONDON – Loganair has signed a deal with Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for one ATR 72-500 freighter aircraft, as the airline aims to increase its cargo capacity.
The airline already has a fleet of three ATR 72 freighters, offering the following registrations:
- G-LMRX
- G-LMRY
- G-LMRZ
Loganair typically operates a route network between the Orkney Islands, Inverness, and Nottingham using these aircraft. This will mainly consist of mail-based cargo, so then those in remote areas can get access to their mail.
Passenger Expansion…
Neither side produced any quotes to do with the acquisition of one more aircraft, but on the passenger front, the airline has been slowly expanding within the UK.
Back in January, the airline announced the expansion of its codesharing agreement with British Airways.
This expansion will allow the codeshare to take place on 18 new routes, which will give British Airways a total of 38 destinations to place its BA code on.
The following routes are available to book on the expansion:
- Aberdeen to Belfast City, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, and Southampton
- City of Derry to London and Liverpool
- Cornwall Airport Newquay to Manchester
- Exeter to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle
- Isle of Man to Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester
- Inverness to Birmingham
- Norwich to Aberdeen and Edinburgh
- Teesside to Southampton
Then in February, the airline announced an expansion plan out of Aberdeen Airport.
The airline announced the start of a route to Oslo (OSL), Norway, which will operate 6 times a week, Sunday through Friday.
The service will be operated year-round starting from June 13th.
This will be the 14th destination that Loganair operates to from Aberdeen.
The route will create 20 new pilot and cabin crew jobs in addition to engineers to carry out scheduled maintenance at its Aberdeen base.
The airline employs 120 people at the airport and over 100 indirectly.
Then, in March, the airline announced services between the Isle of Man and London City Airport, and London Heathrow.
Both new services will be flown under Loganair’s existing codeshare agreement with the UK’s flag carrier airline, British Airways, and will be operated by their ATR 72-600 aircraft that are currently based out of Isle of Man Airport.
Not only this, both services will also be operated by Loganair’s IOM-based team of pilots, cabin crew, and engineers.
Loganair also recently welcomed new IOM-based pilots and cabin crew this week to commence training on their ATR 72-600 aircraft.
Overall…
It remains clear that Loganair is intending to continue its overall growth strategy as 2022 progresses at a steady rate. On the cargo side, the airline is taking it nice and easy, but that is what is needed based on the destinations they serve.
Looking ahead, it is going to be interesting to see where the airline wants to take its brand next, especially with the new destinations it is serving already.
But for now, Loganair’s mantra is slow and steady wins the race, and that is what they will continue to do until new opportunities serve them.
