Shetland airport sleepover after ‘no accommodation’ could be found for stranded passengers

Loganair has apologised to customers after they were forced to sleep in the airport overnight.

The airline said security staff could not stay late for a delayed flight and while it had tried to secure accommodation for passengers late on Sunday evening, it had been unable to do so.

The problem was initially caused by a baggage security issue in Manchester, which had then delayed a flight from Aberdeen to Sumburgh.

A spokeswoman for Loganair said: “Sunday evening’s Aberdeen-Sumburgh-Aberdeen flights were initially delayed by air traffic control restrictions on the aircraft’s earlier flights through Manchester, then by a baggage security issue at Manchester.

“The aircraft was running approximately 90 minutes behind schedule.

Grateful to our teams

“We are grateful to the air traffic control and fire service teams at Sumburgh and to our crews who were content to remain on shift for the delayed flight.

“Unfortunately, it was not possible for Sumburgh airport security staff to remain in attendance and we therefore had no option but to cancel the flight, a situation which only became apparent once passengers at Aberdeen had boarded and the aircraft was readying for take-off to Sumburgh.

She continued: “Our team worked tirelessly to try to source accommodation for customers delayed overnight as a result of these events.

Provided what we could

“Whilst hotel accommodation was provided for all passengers at Aberdeen and the majority at Sumburgh, we were unable to find accommodation for a number of customers who consequently spent the night in Sumburgh Airport with Loganair staff doing their utmost to provide what facilities they could.

“We have laid on an extra flight on Monday to provide alternative travel options for those whose journeys were disrupted on Sunday evening, to whom we offer our most sincere apologies for the inconvenience to their travel plans.

“The effect of last night’s delays and cancellation on crew working rosters also led to the first Aberdeen-Sumburgh round trip on Monday morning running behind schedule.”