Letters / Loganair came to the rescue
In these troubled times of fake news, political and financial chaos, I thought I would recount my recent experience of my twin brother’s visit to Shetland.
He lives in Australia and arrives in his ancestral homelands at the end of August, so I invited him to Shetland to get one last look at our beloved islands before they are completely devastated by windmills, huge pylons and enormous industrial complexes. But I digress.
I proceeded to book the ferry to discover that a single traveller with overnight accommodation costs a staggering £386 return. As a reclining chair or a pod is absolutely out of the question for any human being – not to mention someone gently approaching his twilight years – a bed is absolutely necessary.
After regaining consciousness, I was told that yes there is a visitor’s reduction, and thus my booking would now be £366.
Thankfully, I managed to return home without incident, and then had a lightbulb moment … a forlorn hope that perhaps Loganair could come to my rescue. Well, well, well.
It’s not often I am tickled by Loganair’s prices, but a return flight, obviously without ADS, came in at fully £100 less than the ferry. In fact, had I chosen the dawn patrol from Aberdeen to Sumburgh, the price would have saved me 150 pounds. So, flights it is.
In all seriousness though, how is it that it costs almost £400 for a traveller with a return ticket?
Rather than irritating President Putin, perhaps our own MP would be better employed irritating those who run our ferry service, but I suppose when your own travel is paid by others, the need to irritate is slightly less.
And of course, on a slightly different but equally important issue, an islander with age concession tickets has quite scandalously seen his or her travel concessions halved, and as always, not a peep from our politicians.
In conclusion though, I have to say that my treatment at NorthLink was nothing other than extremely polite and professional. My brother did say though that his huge cost of flying from Canberra to Edinburgh doesn’t seem quite so outrageous.
Ian Scott
Scalloway
