A community-owned airline could see Scottish islands become more connected – and for a lower price to the public, says FlyHighland founder Thomas Eccles.
Thomas Eccles, an Aberdeen-based air freight coordinator, loves visiting Scotland’s islands from the mainland.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on Shetland,” he says. And, while discussing with a friend who lives on the islands the difficulty of getting there “cheaply and quickly” he was struck by an idea.
FlyHighland, which launched its campaign for donations in 2022, hopes to be in the air as early as 2023.
And, as a community resource, Mr Eccles isn’t interested in big profits.
He says the company would always reinvest everything “except what is needed to keep the bank happy”.
It would be the world’s only not-for-profit airline – but is it possible?
What services do FlyHighland want to provide?
The FlyHighland vision is of a Scotland where the islands and mainland are more connected than ever before.
In the Outer Hebrides, for instance, Mr Eccles hopes to connect Benbecula to Inverness for the first time since the Covid pandemic.
“We’re not going to start flight to Cancun,” he says, “but if we can get you to Inverness and then you can get onwards cheaper than flying at the moment, then that’s going to be a win for us in our books.”
Lower prices for flights will also help open up new opportunities for islanders, Mr Eccles says.
He brought up an example of jobs that might require working on the mainland a couple of days a week.
“If the flights are £300 return then that’s not feasible,” he says. “But if they’re £55 return, then definitely.”
FlyHighland boss feels ‘a bit like Marmite’
For islanders feeling trapped by cancelled ferries and expensive flights, FlyHighland is an exciting prospect.
Mr Eccles says that “overwhelmingly, we’ve had really good responses to the project”.
But, with such an ambitious project, and with a donation goal of a quarter of a million pounds, there are also plenty of doubters – people who, he says, believe “all this is never going to work”.
“We get the people who love it and the people who hate it. At the moment, I feel a bit like Marmite.”
There’s reason to be wary. In the 120 years since aeroplanes first took to the skies, there hasn’t been a single successful not-for-profit airline.
Has the time for a not-for-profit airline finally come?
The most high-profile attempt at the idea was the American airline Freelandia. With all profits going to charity and a membership voting system to decide destinations, it promised a whole new way to fly.
Unfortunately, the project was short-lived. After launching in 1973, the airline ceased operations less than a year later.
But, 50 years later, Mr Eccles believes the time has finally come for a not-for-profit airline to take off.
“There’s never been a successful not-for-profit airline – yet.”
“If everyone says ‘oh, this is ridiculous’,” says Mr Eccles, “and if everyone who heard those words didn’t stand up and just try something, then there wouldn’t be an aviation industry to begin with.”
And FlyHighland doesn’t just want to innovate financially.
Mr Eccles is looking into working with Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, who are developing greener, hydrogen-powered aircraft.
“Being the world’s not only not-for-profit airline, but net zero airline as well, would be a huge thing.”
With a project so ambitious, he understands the concern of where donated money will go if the project doesn’t work out.
‘We’re not going to hide anything’
“We’ll redistribute the funds into community projects,” he says.
For Mr Eccles, financial transparency is an important part of the project.
“We’re not going to hide anything,” he says. As well as releasing “snippets of our accounts and brief overviews to the general public,” anyone who subscribes as a supporter from £3.50 a month will have full access to the company’s accounts.
That’s one of the ways FlyHighland is encouraging small, regular donations.
Mr Eccles knows the project is an ambitious one. But, he says, it’s not about getting a hundred big donations. It’s about inspiring the community to come together to all chip in just a little.
“We’ve worked out that if everybody bought a £4 a month subscription, we would be able to launch earlier than expected.”
With his mission to raise awareness just getting started, Mr Eccles is looking forward to a busy 2023.
From the Highland Games to collection tins
“We’re planning to attend events all around Scotland and primarily in the communities that we want to serve,” he says.
FlyHighland are hoping to attend events as high profile as the Highland Games. But, at the other end of the scale, they’re also looking at setting up donation boxes in local shops.
Mr Eccles knows the idea of “a collection tin for an airline” might seem strange. But, once again, he says that every penny counts.
“Even if we make £10 from a collection tin a month, that’s still £10 better off than we were before.”
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