Shetlanders want to see cheaper flights due to the cost of living crisis and hope ferry bosses will allow shared cabins again so passengers can save money.
Frustrated residents and people with family on the islands are often faced with extortionate travel prices if they want to visit loved ones.
Flights to and from Shetland are typically much more expensive than trips to mainland Europe, even when major discounts are applied.
Some Shetlanders have called on the Scottish Government to improve and extend an air discount scheme which gives them 50% off plane trips.
Travel firm Loganair announced extra fare reductions in July, but it still excludes anyone travelling to the islands and residents flying to Glasgow or Edinburgh.
While ferry tickets are much more affordable, islanders have been unable to book cheaper shared cabins for overnight trips since Covid.
It’s feared both current residents and Shetlanders who have moved away won’t be able to afford visits to each other without further help as bills rise.
Locals on the islands have already been hit hard by the cost of living crisis and face higher energy costs than anywhere else in the UK.
They fear flight prices are unlikely to come down permanently in the long-term while only Loganair are operating on the route.
Shetland North councillor Tom Morton said: “We’d like to see some competition on the route.
“There’s certainly a case for a far better service than the one we’ve got at the moment. An increased discount for locals would be good.”
Islanders have also been heavily inconvenienced by capacity issues and regular cancellations at airports in recent months.
Declan Turner, 26, grew up in Shetland but has since left. Since he no longer stays on the islands and isn’t a student, he misses out on the air discount when going home to see family.
He said: “I’m looking at flights now that are upwards of £250 for a return, and that’s in advance. I went to Italy and flew there for £60.”
“It’s really challenging to visit family. It’s a very expensive place to live and it’s a very expensive place to leave.”
Councillor Moraig Lyall, who chairs Shetland’s transport committee, said: “If you’re on a budget, getting a whole family up here can be prohibitively expensive, especially with the current cost of living.”
Shetland and Orkney MP Alistair Carmichael backed calls to extend the air discount scheme due to the cost of living emergency.
He said: “With the price of fuel going up, inevitably Loganair are going to have to pass that onto passengers.
“The obvious things to do would be to increase the percentage of the scheme, maybe even temporarily.”
Mr Carmichael also said he would like to see the discount offered for business travel to help boost Shetland’s local economy.
Analysis by the Press and Journal showed flights from Aberdeen to Shetland at the start of October or November cost at least £240.
Even with the 50% discount, that remains more expensive than trips from Glasgow or Edinburgh to major European capitals such as Paris and Amsterdam.
Flights to Shetland from either of Scotland’s two biggest cities are more than £400 in early October.
Plane trips from the islands to mainland cities are slightly cheaper, but still very expensive.
For Shetlanders who prefer to take the boat instead, a litany of problems remain.
Mr Turner insisted the ferries are not “fit for service”.
‘Not fit for service’
He said: “The services don’t meet the demand, particularly post-Covid. You spend a lot of money for a service that isn’t very good.”
He added: “On weekends, you could probably add another ferry to the link so there’s two sailings. Northlink don’t seem to be listening to the population.”
Due to shared cabins being banned, travellers have taken to setting up a Facebook group to book rooms together in order to keep costs down.
Customers can rent a pod for sleeping during the 14-hour overnight trip instead, but Mr Morton said: “The much-vaunted pods are absolutely horrendous to sleep in.
“They’re worse than airline seats. They don’t give you any privacy.”
Mr Turner said: “It’s really just a reclining chair and a thin blanket, so it’s not worth the money, you don’t have your private space.”
Mr Carmichael said: “I don’t believe it is beyond the wit of man to find a mechanism for people taking the risk themselves of a shared cabin.”
Among the community, Mr Carmichael believes there is a sense that some of the issues facing Shetlanders have been ignored by Holyrood.
The Lib Dem MP said: “There’s clearly a mood of indifference. There’s an exasperation with ministers that Shetland doesn’t fit the same needs as every other community.”
‘Ill-feeling’
Ms Lyall said: “I think there’s a lot of underlying ill-feeling in Shetland at the connectivity with the mainland.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have funded the significant 50% discount through the scheme since 2016.
“We currently have no plans to increase the discount rate.”
Northlink and Loganair were both contacted for comment.