uk94
16th Jul 2002, 21:50
by Iain Maciver filed July 16, 2002
SUNDAY flights will begin to and from Stornoway in the autumn.
From October, passengers will be able to fly to the island of Lewis from Inverness and Edinburgh and back again due to the Sunday flights to be provided by British Airways franchisee Loganair.
The Scottish airline says that it is merely reacting to customer demand.
Meanwhile, BA confirmed that while it was not currently planning any more Sunday flights at Stornoway it would look at doing so "wherever there was confirmed demand".
Sunday travel is a thorny issue in the still largely-Presbyterian islands of Lewis and Harris where observance of the Sabbath is the norm - particularly in the rural areas. While some locals have said that the service will be very welcome and is long overdue, others have slammed it as a sad move which will open the floodgates and result in the destruction of the traditional Hebridean Sabbath.
Bob Macleod, the managing director of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, confirmed that they would open Stornoway Airport on Sundays. He said the state-owned airport operator had always taken the view that facilities would be provided if requested by airlines.
"Consequently, we have agreed to meet a request for Loganair to open the airport on Sundays from the start of the winter schedule on Sunday, October 27," he said.
For the Sunday service, Loganair will be putting on a 34-seat Saab 340, an aircraft noted for its quieter engines. The airline insisted it was aiming for an unobtrusive service that would not disrupt the way of life.
It was not a trial, it said, but a confirmed timetabled service and it was not anticipated that any more Sunday flights by them would result in the future. The fares have still to be fixed.
Western Isles Council said that it had no power to intervene and, in any case, members had not voted to express any view for or against Sunday transport.
"Councillors voted against a referendum on the issue but that was all," said a spokesman.
Loganair chairman Scott Grier said they were aware of the sensitivities and did not want to cause offence to anyone.
"But we have to respond when there are so many in Lewis and Harris that have asked for it," he said.
One island councillor who has kept up a campaign for Sunday travel said it was a sensible and welcome move. Donald John Macsween, the member for Tiumpan ward in Point, said: "This is good news for the travelling public which will be welcomed by the majority of the people and tourists, the business sector and those with relatives on mainland.
"In my view, disruption to the Sabbath will be minimal and this long overdue public service will not affect people's rights to observe their own religious beliefs."
However, Iain Alasdair Macdonald, the Lewis-born ex-Army officer who is the secretary of the Lord's Day Observance Society (LDOS) in Scotland, said it was a sad day.
"This is a breach of God's law and the moral law. Jesus gave us the example to follow in the New Testament. Commercialism is expressly forbidden on the Lord's Day and this is just a commercial operation."
He said it would force people to work on Sundays and cause problems as it stopped the family members being together.
"If the Western Isles Tourism Board is really trying to promote Lewis they should object too as the island is known as a place where the Sabbath has been largely observed."
Mr Macdonald said that the decision would open the floodgates and that ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne would follow the airline's lead. He went on: "We would ask people to write to their MPs and ask them to object."
He did not think there would be physical protests at Stornoway Airport along the lines of the Free Church minister Reverend Angus Smith's famous demonstration in 1966. Mr Smith lay down in front of ferry traffic on Skye and was taken away by police.
Yesterday Mr Smith, who is now retired and in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, said: "God does not approve of those who would stamp on the Sabbath for profit.
"Their strategy is obvious. If Loganair can get away with it so will the others. It will open the way for shops to open, ferries will run and lorries will trundle through the town."
Mr Smith said he hoped there would be protests. "I am too old but I will be disappointed if the churches do not make their feelings known."
Angus MacMillan, the chief executive of Western Isles Tourist Board, said they had received nothing officially to confirm the Sunday service was to begin but said he would be interested in knowing where the evidence was for the demand.
"Other than that, we cannot comment until the board has considered the matter," said Mr MacMillan.
While some thought that the new service was to test the water, BA was saying that it was not yet preparing to offer its main flights to Glasgow, for example, on a seven-day basis.
Its spokesman Denny McGee said: "We have no plans to operate any other Sunday services from Stornoway at the moment. However, if there is an identifiable demand for any such service then it will be looked at."
Meanwhile, Mr Grier stressed that there had been an increasing demand which they had to respond to. He said the flight times were carefully planned so as not to clash with church times.
The board of ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne will discuss whether the time is right to consider offering a Sunday service to Stornoway at its meeting in Greenock next Wednesday.
CalMac spokesman Hugh Dan Maclennan said: "It is not a special meeting to discuss the issue. The previous board position was that any request for a Sunday service would have to come through the community and there is an opportunity to do that at the Shipping Services Advisory committees."
He was not prepared to speculate on claims that CalMac may now be prepared to move closer to also starting a limited service to Stornoway on Sundays.
ends
SUNDAY flights will begin to and from Stornoway in the autumn.
From October, passengers will be able to fly to the island of Lewis from Inverness and Edinburgh and back again due to the Sunday flights to be provided by British Airways franchisee Loganair.
The Scottish airline says that it is merely reacting to customer demand.
Meanwhile, BA confirmed that while it was not currently planning any more Sunday flights at Stornoway it would look at doing so "wherever there was confirmed demand".
Sunday travel is a thorny issue in the still largely-Presbyterian islands of Lewis and Harris where observance of the Sabbath is the norm - particularly in the rural areas. While some locals have said that the service will be very welcome and is long overdue, others have slammed it as a sad move which will open the floodgates and result in the destruction of the traditional Hebridean Sabbath.
Bob Macleod, the managing director of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, confirmed that they would open Stornoway Airport on Sundays. He said the state-owned airport operator had always taken the view that facilities would be provided if requested by airlines.
"Consequently, we have agreed to meet a request for Loganair to open the airport on Sundays from the start of the winter schedule on Sunday, October 27," he said.
For the Sunday service, Loganair will be putting on a 34-seat Saab 340, an aircraft noted for its quieter engines. The airline insisted it was aiming for an unobtrusive service that would not disrupt the way of life.
It was not a trial, it said, but a confirmed timetabled service and it was not anticipated that any more Sunday flights by them would result in the future. The fares have still to be fixed.
Western Isles Council said that it had no power to intervene and, in any case, members had not voted to express any view for or against Sunday transport.
"Councillors voted against a referendum on the issue but that was all," said a spokesman.
Loganair chairman Scott Grier said they were aware of the sensitivities and did not want to cause offence to anyone.
"But we have to respond when there are so many in Lewis and Harris that have asked for it," he said.
One island councillor who has kept up a campaign for Sunday travel said it was a sensible and welcome move. Donald John Macsween, the member for Tiumpan ward in Point, said: "This is good news for the travelling public which will be welcomed by the majority of the people and tourists, the business sector and those with relatives on mainland.
"In my view, disruption to the Sabbath will be minimal and this long overdue public service will not affect people's rights to observe their own religious beliefs."
However, Iain Alasdair Macdonald, the Lewis-born ex-Army officer who is the secretary of the Lord's Day Observance Society (LDOS) in Scotland, said it was a sad day.
"This is a breach of God's law and the moral law. Jesus gave us the example to follow in the New Testament. Commercialism is expressly forbidden on the Lord's Day and this is just a commercial operation."
He said it would force people to work on Sundays and cause problems as it stopped the family members being together.
"If the Western Isles Tourism Board is really trying to promote Lewis they should object too as the island is known as a place where the Sabbath has been largely observed."
Mr Macdonald said that the decision would open the floodgates and that ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne would follow the airline's lead. He went on: "We would ask people to write to their MPs and ask them to object."
He did not think there would be physical protests at Stornoway Airport along the lines of the Free Church minister Reverend Angus Smith's famous demonstration in 1966. Mr Smith lay down in front of ferry traffic on Skye and was taken away by police.
Yesterday Mr Smith, who is now retired and in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, said: "God does not approve of those who would stamp on the Sabbath for profit.
"Their strategy is obvious. If Loganair can get away with it so will the others. It will open the way for shops to open, ferries will run and lorries will trundle through the town."
Mr Smith said he hoped there would be protests. "I am too old but I will be disappointed if the churches do not make their feelings known."
Angus MacMillan, the chief executive of Western Isles Tourist Board, said they had received nothing officially to confirm the Sunday service was to begin but said he would be interested in knowing where the evidence was for the demand.
"Other than that, we cannot comment until the board has considered the matter," said Mr MacMillan.
While some thought that the new service was to test the water, BA was saying that it was not yet preparing to offer its main flights to Glasgow, for example, on a seven-day basis.
Its spokesman Denny McGee said: "We have no plans to operate any other Sunday services from Stornoway at the moment. However, if there is an identifiable demand for any such service then it will be looked at."
Meanwhile, Mr Grier stressed that there had been an increasing demand which they had to respond to. He said the flight times were carefully planned so as not to clash with church times.
The board of ferry company Caledonian MacBrayne will discuss whether the time is right to consider offering a Sunday service to Stornoway at its meeting in Greenock next Wednesday.
CalMac spokesman Hugh Dan Maclennan said: "It is not a special meeting to discuss the issue. The previous board position was that any request for a Sunday service would have to come through the community and there is an opportunity to do that at the Shipping Services Advisory committees."
He was not prepared to speculate on claims that CalMac may now be prepared to move closer to also starting a limited service to Stornoway on Sundays.
ends