LONDON – Stephen and Peter Bond, the brothers who are majority partners in Scottish regional airline Loganair have announced they placing the business up for sale.
Arrowpoint Advisory have been appointed to seek potential buyers for the airline. The two Bond brothers, now 72 and 61 years old respectively, have owned Loganair for the past quarter century and have developed it into the UK’s largest regional airline operator.
Peter Simpson, Loganair chairman told The Sunday Times “It’s been a success story in terms of where we’ve got to, and the shareholders now feel it’s the right time to pass the baton onto new owners.”
In recalling the success of the operation, he observed: “One of the benefits we’ve had is to be small enough to be fleet of foot — where opportunities come up, we’ve worked very quickly to move into them.”
In spite of this, it is reported that some analysts have speculated that the airline will be placed for sale at the lower end of the scale, based on its relatively low margins, and given the prevailing environment of uncertainty surrounding many domestic airlines.
Loganair – from 1960s humble beginnings
Loganair was established on 1 February 1962 by Willie Logan of the Logan Construction Company Ltd, operating as its air charter arm with a Piper PA-23 Aztec based at Edinburgh.
In 1967, Loganair took delivery of three Britten-Norman Islander twin-engine eight-seat light commuter aircraft and began regular flights between the Orkney Islands, commencing operations in Shetland in 1970.
In 1966, after Renfrew Airport closed, the airline established its head office at Glasgow Airport.
Between 1968 and 1983, the company was owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland. Towards the end of this period, Loganair moved from piston engine aircraft to turboprop commuters, with the Short 360 and Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft.
The company then brought jet aircraft into the fleet with two British Aerospace 146s. In December 1983, the airline became a subsidiary of the Airlines of Britain Group. The Bond brothers have held the reins of the airline, since 1997 when it was bought out from British Midland.
The airline was to become a franchisee of British Airways in 1993, and operating its Islander aircraft in British Airways livery. This arrangement remained until 2008, when it became the new franchisee of Flybe.
More recently, 2016 saw the announcement of a parting of the ways between Loganair and Flybe, and the carrier then unveiled its new independent livery the following year; pending the final termination of the Flybe relationship.
Today, Loganair’s fleet includes ATR-42s and -72s, and Embraer 135 and 145 regional commuter aircraft.
Loganair has just this week released details of its proposed flight scheduling for the summer 2023 peak season, which saw it bolster its regional route network in line with rising travel demand.
