Loganair's Electric Bet

So I think the, there, there are many, um, arguments to support our decision, but I think the most compelling is that Loganair's route network, uh, which is over relatively short distances, um, featuring quite important, highly mission critical sort of flights, um, feeding lifeline communities and services, uh, that, that's the sort of overriding compelling case.

But the other side of that coin is that we're not just a passenger service airline, we also carry freight.

Uh, we also have a number of different lines of flying.

We serve the energy sector, um, and we recognize the importance of making sure that short distances are served with reliable, dependable, uh, and, if possible, greener technology.

Because w- our mission, as stated, has always been to make sure the UK, and particularly Scotland, can remain connected.

Um, and therefore, the case to continue doing things the way we've always done them is definitely weaker now than it has ever been, given the emerging technologies.

The case to remain connected is as strong as ever, so the case to find a greener way of doing it is the compelling piece that makes us move forwards at this stage.

And you do have a very specialized network in terms of the kind of remote places and relatively extreme weather that you face in your operations.

Now, I know that you did a trial with Beta Technologies aircraft, uh, that was supported by one of your cargo clients, Royal Mail.

What did you learn during that trial that you didn't already know from what Beta Technologies had told you?

So there is, there is, there are a lot of competing technologies to Beta, uh, in the world today, and, and that's great.

They're all moving forwards at pace, which again is fantastic.

Um, the, the, the difference is that when you, when you look at a concept aircraft on paper, when you look at any, uh, any vehicle that's supposed, you know, you're going to think about adding to your fleet, you do so with one eye on the marketing that comes with it, and then you also look at the realities of operating in your own network.

Um, so what Beta Technologies did was actually bring their aircraft over to Scotland.

Um, it was real, it was material.

We were able to test it in the real environment.

We flew it around a number of the destinations that we serve.

Uh, we flew it with Royal Mail on board, and we were in real time, not just on a computer modeling or in, in theory or hypothesis.

This was all proven technology in our network, and therefore it gave us that nudge of confidence that perhaps we needed to move further, uh, forward with Beta faster than with any other technology at this point in time.