Loganair apologises after late Sumburgh-bound flight forced to turn back

Loganair has apologised after a late night flight to Sumburgh had to turn back to Aberdeen – because Sumburgh airport had closed.

The airline said it attempted to operate the flight from Aberdeen to Shetland at around 9.30pm on Thursday night but was unable to land “due to airport opening hours” and had to return to Aberdeen.

Loganair said it had been hopeful of negotiating an extension to the opening hours at Sumburgh but “regrettably it wasn’t possible”.

It said accommodation was provided to all passengers when they returned, and that they would be put on an alternative flight today.

Loganair blamed the failure of one of their service partners at Manchester airport yesterday for the late arrival of the aircraft into Aberdeen.

“From Monday, 1st August, actions previously taken to de-link the evening Aberdeen-Sumburgh flight from the Manchester services come into effect.

“The afternoon and evening Aberdeen-Sumburgh flights will be operated by the same aircraft and its on-time performance will not be impacted by events in Manchester.”

Loganair said it “sincerely apologises for the disruption caused” and would liaise with partners to prevent it from happening again.