Wales on-line reports that the troubled airline which links north and south Wales announced today that it has gone into administration with a “substantial number of redundancies” inevitable:
Directors of Inverness-based Highland Airways called in administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) last night.
The airline runs flights linking some of the Inner and Outer Hebrides to the mainland via Oban and Inverness as well as a Cardiff to Anglesey route, and all flights have been cancelled with immediate effect.
The company employs around 100 people but said it was too early to say how many redundancies there would be.
Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Minister, Jenny Randerson said:
“I am not surprised in the slightest. We have been warning for weeks that the Cardiff to Ynys Mon service was going to fall apart.
“This situation raises very series of questions for the Assembly Government and Ieuan Wyn Jones personally. This company failed to file its accounts as long ago as last autumn, but it seems that Ieuan has continued to pay them to operate this dead duck service. How many thousands of pounds of taxpayers money has been put at risk in that time?
“Politicians use the word inquiry too much nowadays, but this situation has developed into such a mess that there needs to be some answers. Ieuan should have stepped back from responsibility for this service months ago, as it involves his constituency so closely.
“The timing of the administration announcement is incredibly lucky for the Government. The fact it has come the day that AMs pack up for the Easter Recess is very unfortunate. I will however be demanding some serious answers.”
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Let’s be clear though, we are talking about a company based in Scotland that operates a number of different services going bust. The North-South link itself isn’t the reason for the company going under.
Another cut-and-paste we-told-you-so story. Any chance of a return of the original thinking that once distinguished this blog from others?