The Highland Council has welcomed British Airways announcement this morning of a new Heathrow link with Inverness from May next year.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson welcomed the news saying This is excellent news for the economy of the Highlands. It gives the signal out to the rest of the world that it is easy to get to the Highlands and we are open for business. Whether you are a tourist wanting to visit Loch Ness or a business wanting to take advantage of the opportunities the region has to offer, this is good news indeed.
Chair of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Audrey Sinclair added: This is really good news. There has been a gap in the service for a long time now and I hope people will take advantage of this new service when it comes. I would like to think this is the start of more daily flights, convenient time slots and better access to more international services for the Highlands.
Highlands and Islands MSP and Scottish (Labour) Spokesperson for Transport, David Stewart, has welcomed the British Airways announcement that they will start a new daily flight connecting Inverness with Heathrow Airport from spring next year.
It is 18 years since BA terminated flights from Inverness to London and in the meantime Easy Jet provided the vital link with London, Gatwick. However, the loss of the flight from London to Heathrow saw a reduction of thousands and thousands of passengers passing through Inverness.
David Stewart speaking today (4/11/15) said Better connectivity is what is badly needed across the Highlands & Islands and I have been pushing for a number of years for improved flights to and from the Highland capital. In particular we needed better connectivity with London. There is no doubt that if we can provide and sustain more frequent flights to London we can benefit across the Highlands Islands from an increase in the valuable tourism industry, business and business connections will be improved and there will be much improved trade routes not to mention the added positive effect for those from this location wishing to pursue leisure experiences.
I welcome BA back to Inverness as this decision is a positive move for the local economy, local people and business and as important the move will create more jobs.
Denize Mcgregor, British Airways head of UK customer service and operations, said - We are very pleased to be starting our new service to Inverness.
As the capital of the Highlands, Inverness has a strong and diverse economy and has developed into a major centre for life sciences, commercialisation and research.