The Scottish airline Loganair has been put up for sale by its owners, Peter and Stephen Bond. It is hoped that the new owners can be found and will be in place by mid-2023. The current owners have been at the helm for over ten years and have stressed that the airline has no financial problems. In a statement, the owners were seeking a buyer to act as the company’s “custodian for the next generation.”
Commenting on the pending sale of the airline, Loganair’s chief executive Jonathan Hinkles said, ”The airline is trading profitably and has repaid its Covid-19 bank debt ahead of schedule. It will very much continue to operate as it is today, with no changes to routes, services or employment. Passenger numbers are growing and 50% ahead of pre-Pandemic levels, and our fleet renewal programme is also well advanced, continuing apace over the coming months. The Bonds – Stephen is now 72, Peter is 61 – are committed to finding the right future owner for Loganair, who will act as its custodian for the next generation, just as they and previous owners have done. In the meantime, they remain, wholehearted supporters of Loganair, until any process is successfully concluded.”
Loganair started operations from Edinburgh in February 1962, initially with a Piper Aztec and expanded to serve the Scottish Islands in the following years. The airline was owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland from the late 1960s until the early 1980s, it was then a member of the Airlines of Britain Group which also included British Midland. The airline operated as a British Airways franchise partner in the 1990s and a number of its aircraft were painted in British Airways livery. Following a management buy-out, Loganair became a franchise partner of FlyBe in 2008. Between 2005 and 2008, Loganair operated the Irish PSO (Public Service Obligation) route between Knock and Dublin. The airline currently operates flights from Dublin to Inverness and Aberdeen.
