Sumburgh figures down almost by half following pandemic

Sumburgh Airport Photo: Ronnie Robertson

Sumburgh Airport has seen passenger numbers fall by 47 per cent after Covid-19.

But Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial) says Shetland’s main airport was the least affected of its network.

Hial has outlined the scale of the problem in its annual report.

It saw an overall reduction in passengers of 77 per cent across its network.

Numbers at Sumburgh were down year-on-year from almost 308,000 to just under 163,000.

Final figures for 2020/21 show just under 393,000 passengers across the network, compared to 1.68 million during 2019/20.

Over the year, Scottish government-owned Hial received a public subsidy of £56,846,000.

That included revenue funding of £36,600,000, and capital funding of £20,246,000.

The funding was supplemented by £3,555,000 of loan funding for commercial activities.

Managing director Inglis Lyon said: “The period since March 2020 has been like no other in our history in term of impact on our teams and partner airlines.”

Hial chairwoman Lorna Jack added: “We are on the road to recovery but that will take time.”

HIAL published its five year Covid recovery plan in February, which sets out how it aims to respond and recover in the coming years.

Hial says it complies with Scottish Ministerial policy and works with the Scottish government to retain routes and offer new services where possible.

The news follows this week’s external transport meeting, where Loganair warned it would be axing a number of flights in the new year.