Press release -
BA announces direct route to the Highlands
British Airways is to boost services to Scotland with the start of new daily flights from Heathrow to Inverness, gateway to the Highlands and Islands.
The new year-round service will start on May 3 2016, connecting Inverness directly with Heathrow’s T5 and British Airways’ global network, serving more than 130 destinations around the world.
British Airways operates up to 58 return services a day between Scotland and London’s Heathrow, London City and Gatwick airports, more than any other airline, and the most to any other country on the airline’s global network.
Operating an Airbus A319, with up to 143 seats, will also help encourage tourists from around the world to visit the region, famous for its dramatic landscape, turbulent history and the warm welcome of its people.
Scott Armstrong, VisitScotland Regional Partnerships Director, said:
“The launch of this daily service from Heathrow Airport is fantastic news for Inverness and the Highlands. It unlocks British Airways’ global network and makes it even easier for domestic visitors and the international community to explore the north of Scotland, providing a stunning escape for visitors with its beautiful natural landscapes, beaches and wildlife.
“VisitScotland’s objective is to see our country connected into every global airline network and alliance, which is key to growing the visitor economy. This exciting new domestic route, which connects to a major international hub, will allow us to attract even more leisure visitors and boost connectivity for business travellers looking to develop relationships with firms in the surrounding area.”
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.
“British Airways’ daily flights will benefit the Inverness economy by linking the business community of the city and its environs with our global network of more than 130 destinations, and help boost the area’s vital in-bound tourism sector by bringing even more visitors to this beautiful and historic city, with its unique environment, scenery and culture.”
Inglis Lyon, managing director of Inverness Airport operator, HIAL, said:
“We are delighted to welcome British Airways back to Inverness Airport. This is a significant achievement for the airport as British Airways is a world class airline, serving more than 130 international destinations from Heathrow, giving passengers from Inverness access to a truly global network.
“Through our efforts, and with the support of our partners, Inverness Airport has done what few other regional airports have achieved in recent years, attracting one of the world’s leading airlines and securing access to the UK’s hub airport at the same time.
“No other UK airport offers more worldwide connections than Heathrow, and no other UK airline offers more international destinations than British Airways. The potential benefits for business and inbound tourism are enormous.”
Local business has also backed the resumption of services between London and Inverness, welcoming the interest and much-needed investment it could bring to companies and people who live and work in the region.
David McMillan, LifeScan Scotland’s managing director, said:
“This is fantastic news for the region, allowing small, medium and large businesses across the Highlands a direct link with Heathrow and beyond. Having this Inverness to Heathrow route is an important boost for connectivity.
“Specifically for LifeScan Scotland this offers our employees significant flexibility in their travel plans. Reviewing 2015, over 1,200 flights were taken by LifeScan Scotland employees travelling through London airports.”
Alex Paterson, Highlands and Islands Enterprise chief executive, said:
"This is excellent news, which will open up new economic opportunities for the region. We are sure it will be of great interest to existing businesses and potential inward investors, and look forward to welcoming British Airways back to Inverness in 2016.”
Derek Mackay, Scottish Minister for Transport and the Islands, said:
“This is fantastic news for the Highlands, offering a new direct link with London and opening up a wide range of onward connections from Heathrow.
“This is particularly important for Scottish businesses looking for improved access to global markets. It’s also a major boost for local tourism, making it even easier for visitors to get a taste of the fantastic experiences on offer in the Highlands.
“The Scottish Government is keen to support HIAL to continue to grow the number of routes available from Inverness Airport in the future, so I wish HIAL and British Airways every success with this venture and look forward to the new service taking off next year.”
One way hand baggage only fares are available from £47 from Inverness to Heathrow and from £60 from Heathrow to Inverness. Fares include a generous free hand baggage allowance and complimentary on board refreshments.
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For further information, please contact the British Airways press office on 020 8738 5100.
Notes to editors:
British Airways previously operated flights from Heathrow to Inverness from November 19, 1968 until November 16, 1997, which were suspended for commercial reasons. The flights were taken over by British Regional Airlines who operated the route to Inverness from Gatwick.
Further details on British Airways new routes can be found at: www.britishairways.com/en-gb/flights-and-holidays/flights/new-routes
Flight times are always subject to change.
Flight details
| Destination | Flight No | Flight times | Start date | Return HBO fare |
| Inverness | Outbound:BA1468 Inbound: BA1469 | Dep LHR at 09:55 – Arr INV at 11:30 Dep INV at 12:10 – Arr LHR at 13:40 | May 3, 2016 | £89, including all taxes and charges |
British Airways’ Scottish route frequencies*
| ROUTE FREQUENCY | GLASGOW | EDINBURGH | ABERDEEN |
| Heathrow | Daily – 10Weekly – 68 | Daily – 12Weekly – 76 | Daily – 8-9Weekly – 57 |
| Gatwick | Daily – 4Weekly – 25 | Daily – 4Weekly – 26 | |
| London City | Daily – 8Weekly – 38 | Daily – 11Weekly – 53 |
*The frequency of flights may vary from season to season
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- british airways
- inverness
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
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- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, the tourism economy supports 270,000 jobs in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the tourism economy contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
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- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Food and Drink 2015- 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success.
- Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism.
- A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat
- For more information, visit www.visitscotland.com/tastescotland
