McArthur calls for ADS software upgrades to be made priority

Mr McArthur's call follows constituents raising concerns this week about difficulties in booking ADS flights between Orkney and London via BA's website. It emerged that BA had failed to provide any prior warning to customers about the payment fault and had no immediate contingency plans to accept ADS through telephone bookings.

While the original fault has been resolved, Orkney's MSP has now written to the Transport Minister, Jenny Gilruth and BA's CEO, Sean Doyle to seek an urgent resolution on overdue software upgrades between BA and ADS administrators to ensure islanders are not left paying far more than they should or unable to book connecting flights in future. ADS bookings via the Loganair website are unaffected.

Commenting, Mr McArthur said:

"The Air Discount Scheme has played an important role in making our lifeline air services a bit more affordable for islanders. In order to operate efficiently, however, the scheme requires airlines and government to invest in the IT that allows bookings to be made, including onward connections through codeshare agreements.

"Unfortunately, while ADS bookings with Loganair appear to be working fine, islanders wanting to book connecting flights with BA have been left with the choice of paying full fares or unable to make reservations. While BA customer staff have stepped in to help individuals affected, BA management and Transport Scotland need to put in place a more robust system to support these bookings.

"I have spoken to the Transport Minister to highlight my concerns and she has agreed to ask her officials to seek an urgent resolution with BA. I have also written to BA’s Chief Executive directly urging him to take the needs of islanders seriously and upgrade the airline’s IT systems as soon as possible.

"Our lifeline services depend on having a reliable, round-the-clock booking system. That’s what now needs to be put in place."