Air / Bus / Rail / Ferry Services News
3/10/2024
Partners Launch Revised Timetable To Improve Reliability And Connectivity Of Wick John O'groats Airport Flights
The Highland Council and Eastern Airways have agreed a number of changes to scheduled flight times on the Wick-Aberdeen air route. The changes have been carefully considered to reduce cancellations and restore public trust.
23/8/2024
UK Airports Are Already At Full Stretch And Passenger Numbers Are Set To Soar Causing More Delays
The summer holiday season is in full swing, with people flocking to their holiday destinations in record numbers. Heathrow Airport has experienced a staggering 14.7% year-on-year growth in passenger numbers and a 17.5% increase in aircraft movements.
27/3/2024
Wick Public Service Obligation Celebrates Successful Second Year Subsidising Wick Aberdeen Flights
The Highland Council is delighted to confirm a highly successful second year for Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights between Wick and Aberdeen. The period from April 2023 to March 2024 has seen a substantial increase in passenger numbers, with several months seeing over 1,000 passengers using the service, and overall the service has seen year on year growth of 25%.
27/1/2024
Northlink Ferries disruption warning to customers 
Current forecasts indicate the possibility of disruption to our services from Saturday 27th January through to the evening of Monday 29th January. Information will follow as forecasts update.
21/1/2024
Northlink Ferries Weather Disruption - Changes To Times And Cancellations
Early disruption warning to customers Current forecasts indicate the possibility of disruption to our services from the evening of Sunday 21st January through to the evening of Tuesday 23rd January. More information will follow as forecasts update.
22/12/2023
NorthLink Ferries opens booking system for 2024
Serco NorthLink Ferries has officially opened its booking system for the full calendar year ahead - giving customers the opportunity to book forward travel up to the end of December 2024. Billy Robb, Customer Service Director for NorthLink Ferries, said, "We are pleased to be able to open our booking system up to December 2024, allowing people to book travel in spring, summer and beyond, both to and from Shetland and Orkney.13/3/2023
Northlink Ferries Mv Hjaltland Crew Raises Over £4,800 For Clan Cancer Support
Serco NorthLink Ferries staff have raised over £4,800 in support of Clan, a charity supporting those affected by cancer across north-east Scotland. Staff on board and ashore - led by Kathryn Fullerton, Retail Supervisor on the MV Hjaltland - carried out fundraising activities over the course of last year to gather funds for the charity.21/10/2022
Three Cats At Gills Harbour
Two catamaran work-boats berthed at Gills Harbour this week with the trans-Pentlnd ferry MV Alfred, also a catamaran, in the background. The larger workboat is MPC Athenia which was being used as a floating base or ROVs - remote underwater vessels, for detailed inspections on the three turbines operating at the MeyGen demonstration subsea site one and a half miles off Gills Harbour.
11/7/2022
John O'Groats Ferry Company Up For Sale
Not often you see a ferry company up for sale. S this is a unique opportunity to buy a business that operates over the summer season from Caithness to Orkney.12/6/2022
GILLS HARBOUR Ltd ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
GILLS HARBOUR Ltd - ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING at JOHN O'GROATS VILLAGE HALL, MONDAY JUNE 13th @ 7.30 PM. GILLS HARBOUR IS THE ONLY OFFICIALLY-RECOGNISED 'ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AREA' IN NE CAITHNESS.26/2/2022
Scheduled Flights Are To Restart Between Wick John O' Groats Airport And Aberdeen
The Highland Council and Transport Scotland, who have been working with local stakeholders to reinstate flights from Wick John O'Groats Airport, are delighted to announce that Eastern Airways have been awarded a contract to provide a year-round service to Aberdeen. The service, which will operate under a Public Service Obligation (PSO), will provide a direct connection to the airport hub at Aberdeen for 3 years.
8/12/2021
No Replacement Vessel To Cover Scrabster Route During Hamnavoe Refit
The lifeline ferry service between Stromness and Scrabster will cease operation completely for a fortnight this winter, NorthLink Ferries has confirmed. The route is to be shutdown from January 31 until February 13 while mv Hamnavoe goes into dry dock for maintenance.
31/8/2021
Ferry Problems Getting Worse In The Scottish Fleet
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has again written to the Transport Minister Graeme Dey demanding Scottish Government address the urgent issues facing Scotland's Ferry Fleet. Following CalMac's announcement that it had been forced to amend timetables as the MV Hebrides was from the rotation for urgent repairs, it became clear that some communities were facing loss of their ferry service for days.
24/3/2021
Serco NorthLink Ferries reveals passenger numbers for first two months of 2021
Serco NorthLink Ferries recorded more than 8,000 journeys during the start of 2021 as it continues to support essential travel. The service remains aligned to the Scottish Government's Strategic Framework, with NorthLink Ferries providing key worker, essential islander and freight connectivity between the Northern Isles and mainland Scotland.
22/3/2021
Latest Boats At Gills Harbour For Work At Meygen
£10 million 'Isle of Jura' temporarily based at Gills Harbour in Far North of Scotland for her crew's debut tasks in the tidal-stream electricity field at the MeyGen sub-sea site, one mile off the little Caithness's port entrance channel. One of the UK's most modern marine renewables service vessels made her debut calls at community-owned Gills Harbour, near John O'Groats, over the 2021 Spring Equinoctial weekend.
25/2/2021
MSP, Rhoda Grant has slammed Michael Matheson MSP's performance in defence of HIAL's Air Traffic Centralisation
The centralisation of air traffic services in the Highlands was the fore again yesterday at the petitions committee of the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 24th February 2021. The importance of the issue for outlying areas in terms of connectivity and employment were highlighted.
23/2/2021
Busy Gills Harbour
Its been a busy few days at local community-owned Gills Harbour ..... sometimes in suberb sunny weather as here ...
7/12/2020
Serco NorthLink Ferries provides update on latest travel figures
Serco NorthLink Ferries is continuing to maintain vital transport links over the autumn and winter period - following the opening of its 2021 booking system at the start of October. The service remains aligned to the Scottish Government's Strategic Framework, and while passenger and car volumes are down significantly year-on-year they have shown further signs of strengthening over the last few months.
26/11/2020
Energy Developments Continue at Gills Harbour and the Pentland Firth
The company behind the world-leading tidal-stream prototype power plant in the Pentland Firth's Inner Sound is set to start manufacturing a new-style turbine that is hopes will reduce the project's generating costs. Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) and a privately-owned specialist engineering firm from Spain's Bay of Biscay coastline have jointly been conducting 'research and development' (R& D) on the project for almost a year and are now ready to give it the go-ahead.
8/10/2020
