Airline says sorry to passengers

Air Scotland has apologised to passengers whose flights were subject to lengthy delays over the weekend.

A dispute between the low-cost airline and its fuel supplier forced the airline to ground its planes, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports across Europe.

Many faced waits of up to 18 hours as the airline worked to find a resolution to the dispute.

The delays, coupled with a lack of information provided by the airline, saw tempers fray, with armed police called to Palma airport in Majorca, Spain in order to calm angry passengers.

"We apologise unreservedly to passengers," an Air Scotland spokesperson said.

At present, all flights are subject to delays of around eight hours.

Air Scotland is hoping to get flights back to normal later this week, and is advising passengers to contact it beforehand to check the status of their flight.

The airline, which is heavily in debt, found itself unable to pay its fuel bills last week following the withdrawal of its major shareholder.But Air Scotland is confident that it will be able to continue operations despite the financial difficulties.

The difficulties have once again raised the issue of a compulsory compensation charge designed to cover passengers in the event of an airline ceasing operations.

However, just last week the UK government said it would not bring in a £1 levy on tickets and recommended people bought travel insurance instead.

© Adfero Ltd