Scottish airline Loganair has retired its Saab 340 fleet after more than 24 years of service, with a historic final flight from Inverness to Glasgow.
The regional airline flew its final Saab 340 service on January 25, with flight LM340 flying from Kirkwall to Inverness and Glasgow Airport, mimicking the trajectory of the airline's first Saab 340 flight.
The final flight was fittingly flown by Loganair's longest serving pilot, Captain Eddie Watt, who joined the airline on October 1, 1996 and is also retiring from the business. He commented: “It is appropriate for me to retire with the aircraft that has been the staple of my career. Flying the Saab 340, I have seen all of Scotland pass below me and it has been an incredible 34 years flying this beloved aircraft.”
The flight landed with a water cannon salute and a piper on the tarmac at Glasgow Airport, and also coincided with the 41st anniversary of the world's first flight of the Saab 340.
The airline's fleet, consisting of 18 Saab 340s, was mainly used for island services and completed more than 430,000 flights, both passenger and cargo, during its lifetime and carried more than eight million customers.
Memorable moments include flying the Olympic flame to Shetland in Orkney and Stornaway in the Western Isles for the 2012 Olympic Games, while two of the airline's Saab 340s were converted into air ambulances during the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring that remote patients on the islands could access healthcare on the mainland.
The Saab 340s are being replaced by the airline's new ATR turboprop aircraft, which Loganair says can “carry up to 45 percent more customers on some routes” and also support “its ambition to offer more lower airfares.” “. Loganair added that there are a greater number of pilots authorized to fly ATR aircraft.
