THE subsidised air-link between North and South Wales has been grounded with operator Highland Airways going into administration.

The Assembly Government today insisted it would take action to keep a service going but the Conservatives said the focus should be on improving roads and railways and securing an air link with North America.

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones defended the operation, saying: “This service as been a huge success with almost 40,000 passengers using it since it started. It has far exceeded our expectations and we will now work tirelessly to minimise any break to flights.

“The unfortunate position of Highland Air has nothing to do with the performance of this route and the company’s problems are related to its wider business.

“We are determined to keep the link operating and ensure there is minimum disruption to passengers. We will be issuing an invitation to tender on Monday to seek an operator to provide this service in the short-term. Our aim is to restore the service as soon as possible after the Easter holidays.

“Our long term objective is to appoint a new operator with a four-year contract. We will be doing this through a further tendering process at the European level. ”

The service between Cardiff and RAF Valley started in May 2007. To date the service has been delivered by Highland Airways, under a contract for some £800,000 per year.

David Rosser, director of CBI Wales, said he supported the air-link but it was not a driver of economic development.

He said: “Those few members of ours who used it generally used it for travelling to deal with Government and those issues rather than for business purposes. It will be missed if it’s not replaced and we’d encourage the [Assembly Government] to look to see if it could be replaced in a cost-effective manner but from our perspective it was never an economic development priority.”

Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman Jenny Randerson AM 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?”

She continued: “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.”

Conservative shadow transport Minister David Melding AM said: “We were always sceptical about the worth of this service. While we are committed to improving transport links between north and south Wales this air service was not the answer.

“Investing in road and rail services between north and south Wales is a far better way to improve transport links for the many, not the few. A great deal of Assembly Government money has gone into the Cardiff-Anglesey air link. While public subsidies are occasionally justified, our top priority is to secure a link from Wales to North America with a major carrier.”

Bruce Cartwright of administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers said: “The company had encountered trading difficulties including the loss of certain contracts. As a result they were in discussion with a number of parties over a period of time with a view to developing a new and viable operating model. The directors have now concluded that the option of maintaining operations while introducing a new investor is no longer feasible.

“As administrators we are conscious that Highland provided a valuable service within Scotland and Wales and we will be working with contracted customers to ensure an orderly handover of services to new operators wherever feasible. It is inevitable that there will be a substantial number of redundancies but we will endeavour where feasible to assist the work force in securing employment with the new service providers.”

Customers are also advised to visit the Highland Airways website (www.highlandairways.co.uk) for further information.

The administrators believe there are around 800 future flights had been booked. The company is unable to offer any refund to customers in respect of cancelled flights.

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