Scottish Islands - London
 

It seems that leisure travel between the UK and Europe will be constrained for several months, until everyone is vaccinated
On this basis, does it make sense for an airline to open routes between London and maybe Manchester to places like Stornoway, Kirkwall and Sumburgh to pick up revenue from staycationers ? Or do people think the Scottish Govt will keep hotels and restaurants closed in Scotland until the autumn ?

I have wondered the same thing although previous efforts - Atlantic Airways to Sumburgh 15 or so years back and Loganair to Stornoway in 2019 - didn’t see a lot of takeup. Possibly only once or twice a week at most might be worth a punt but I think only Loganair could realistically attempt it. Problem for a lot of islands is there’s only so much capacity and if people want to get there because there’s few other options there’s little incentive to add significant extra capacity. Better to funnel people onto existing flights and ferries and milk it

As AirportPlanner1 mentioned above, infrastructure is key. There just isn't the accommodation in most places to absorb any extra arrivals - my parents lived in Argyll during the late 80s, 90s, early 00s & had a second property on Tiree where they spent 4-5 months of the year (& lived full time for a couple) and planning trips on & off island was tricky even with accommodation. Travel/bed availability during some periods e.g. during the Wave Classic was challenging at best. Now that my folks have moved back to the Isle of Man things are no different - a limited peak season, limited accommodation (non existent availability during race weeks), weather dependent flights/ferries etc.. Any investment in tourism infrastructure would never be recouped during the limited season available. Maybe there is a chance, post pandemic, that a limited niche occasional charter/tour operator type operation could work, but even with a Loganair Saab/ATR42 operation 35-48 seats means a lot of beds to find.

Having escaped the worst of COVID, but not entirely, I don’t think this would be welcomed on the islands just now.

The whole marketplace will be shaken up significantly this summer, so it's maybe not a bad idea to be looking at alternative flights.

The current transport options have been more than sufficient to meet hotel capacity in the past, but a lot of these visitors will be Europeans, perhaps spending a few days in Edinburgh/Glasgow first before heading out to the isles. This will probably not happen this summer, so instead the islands may need to look elsewhere to fill those vacancies. That may involve enticing people from elsewhere in the UK to come up to Scotland and then visit the isles using existing transport, but at the same time it may be worth looking at adding flights to Manchester or London to shorten the trip and make it more appealing.

We're living in changed times, so it might be time to think a little bit differently. What didnt work in the past may well work this year.

Compare with Cornwall, another potential tourist destination, but with a huge amount more accommodation. Internal flights to Newquay are hardly trunk routes, even on summer Saturdays.
What's more Newquay is about the only commercial airport in Cornwall, but the Scottish Highlands and Islands contain several.

I don't think you can really compare cornwall and the Scottish Isles. You can't exactly drive to the isles.