Highland air industry bosses expect tough times and have warned there may be a long road to recovery following the coronavirus pandemic
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Airport bosses have warned there may be a long road to recovery following the pandemic.
HIAL managing director Inglis Lyon acknowledged there would be challenges ahead in a statement accompanying the firm’s latest accounts.
Written ahead of the new lockdown, he said the impact of coronavirus continued to affect all aspects of HIAL’s work.
“The travel restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the virus have seen air travel almost grind to a halt across the UK, Europe and most parts of the world,” he stated.
HIAL experienced a 90 per cent drop in passengers in the first quarter of 2020/21 – with the temporary suspension of some flights being a key factor.
As lockdown restrictions eased, he described “a slow and carefully planned” re-introduction of scheduled services across the region.
Mr Lyon added: “However, it will be a long road to recovery with some of the aviation sector predicting up to five years to recover to the levels seen before the pandemic.
“Looking back over the last year, Inverness Airport continued its trend towards reaching the one million passenger mark, with a final figure of almost 917,000 – a small increase of just under one per cent on 2018/19 passenger numbers.
“This is a significant achievement given the 48 per cent reduction in passengers against the previous year in March alone.
“During 2019/20, 1.68 million passengers travelled through our airports. This marks a reduction of just over 60,000 passengers from last year.
“We saw a notable reduction in passengers start in February and was most keenly felt during March with a reduction of over 45 per cent passenger flow across all our airports.”
He added: “HIAL’s airports also contribute to the social benefits and economic prosperity of our communities.
“Times ahead will be challenging for the region, our aviation colleagues and HIAL, but I have no doubt that the close working relationships that we have fostered over the years will ensure that we can continue to provide the essential air services required by our communities.”
Accounts for the year ended March 31, 2020 show turnover fell from £25,099,000 for the previous 12 months to £24,892,000. For the same period, a pre-tax loss of £3,309,000 moved to become a pretax loss of £2,735,000.
Mr Lyon said income was derived from a limited number of airline customers, adding: “Any external pressures faced by those customers may lead to them reviewing their operating schedule and this in turn may impact on group income, costs and connectivity for the regions we serve.”
HIAL also received a public subsidy of £37,445,000 over the year.
Its chairwoman Lorna Jack provided a statement alongside the accounts, pointing out few industries had been affected by the pandemic as significantly as aviation. “Airports and airlines around the world are having to make some very tough decisions,” she said.
“Our airports are unique in that their core role is to provide lifeline services for our communities in the Highlands and Islands.
“The strategic planning and processes in place enabled contingency arrangements to be quickly introduced to ensure essential services continued for our communities throughout the lockdown period. Working in partnership with Transport Scotland, AGS Airports and Loganair, our airports ensured a skeleton schedule continued for services such as NHS patient transfer, Royal Mail, key workers and the oil and gas industry.
“This pandemic has accentuated how crucial our airports are for the transport of supplies, key workers and services, as well as providing a vital link when emergency transport to the mainland is needed.
“Now more than ever, there is a need to safeguard those vital services and we will continue to work with our partner agencies to ensure we meet those fundamental needs for the foreseeable future.
“The pandemic has highlighted the need for all corners of industry to review how services and goods are provided. It is clear that we will all have a new ‘business as usual’ and we will be undertaking our work and conducting business in a different way moving forward.
“We will take time to review our strategic plan to ensure our strategic priorities meet the needs of our communities as well as assist with the recovery of the aviation industry.”
The average number of employees increased from 620 in 2018/19 to 658 in 2019/20, while staff costs rose from £31,501,000 to £33,981,000.
During the year, the purchase of New Century House – former headquarters of Highland News and Media, publisher of the Inverness Courier – for a combined surveillance centre in Inverness was concluded with an investment of £2.6 million. A key contract for the remote tower work is expected to be awarded this month.
HIAL is owned by Scottish ministers and is responsible for the management and operation of 11 airports.
