Loganair gears up to help cyclists -Ride Across Britain-

7th June 2010

Wick Airport is preparing for one of its busiest days ever on Friday (June 11) when it welcomes hundreds of cyclists who are taking part in the inaugural Deloitte Ride Across Britain event.

Olympic gold medallists James Cracknell and Rebecca Romero will join Paralympic gold medallists Sarah Storey and Jody Cundy to lead 600 cyclists through Wick this weekend as they pedal their way to Lands End.

The 1,000 mile, nine-day challenge, which begins from John O'Groats on Saturday (June 12), is aimed at raising £1m over the next four years for ParalympicsGB, the event's benefitting charity.

And to help ride organisers Threshold Sports transport more than 100 participants and their bikes to the starting line, Flybe franchise carrier Loganair has laid on three extra flights from Edinburgh to Wick on Friday.

The airline, which normally operates one roundtrip flight between Edinburgh and Wick five days per week, has drafted extra aircraft and crews into service for the day to quadruple the number of seats available - and every one of the flights is fully booked.

Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair's commercial director, said: "This is a fantastic event for a very worthwhile charity and we're delighted to be assisting Threshold Sports in transporting cyclists from across the UK to Wick on their way to John O'Groats. Loganair wishes all of the participants well for a successful ride."

There was more good news for Wick this week as Loganair reported strong advance bookings on its Edinburgh route with travel demand for the next three months some 56% ahead of the same period last year.

Mr Hinkles added: "The introduction of our Sunday flight between the two points last October has been a popular development whilst we're seeing increasing numbers of overseas tourists taking advantage of the exchange rate to visit Scotland and Caithness in particular."