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Air Ecosse

Scottish commuter airline

Air Ecosse was a Scottish commuter airline based in Aberdeen operating in the late 1970s to late 1980s. They flew between Aberdeen and cities in northern England, such as Liverpool and Carlisle as well as to Edinburgh and Glasgow. They also carried out mail flights for the Royal Mail.2 It ceased to exist in 1987.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Jun 1977Founded1
  • HeadquartersAberdeen Airport1

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Britten-Norman Trislander-1 - Flickr - Ragnhild & Neil Crawford
Photo: Ragnhild&Neil Crawford from Sweden, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

Air Ecosse was a Scottish commuter airline based in Aberdeen operating in the late 1970s to late 1980s. They flew between Aberdeen and cities in northern England, such as Liverpool and Carlisle as well as to Edinburgh and Glasgow. They also carried out mail flights for the Royal Mail.2

The story

Air Ecosse (Charters) Ltd. was formed in June 1977 as a subsidiary of Fairflight Charters based at Biggin Hill (Kent - England). The company's first flight was in July 1977 and until 1981 only on-demand flights were operated.

After the company name was changed to simply Air Ecosse Ltd. the first scheduled flights started in 1981 from Aberdeen to Dundee, Glasgow, Manchester, Wick and Sumburgh. In the 1980s, the airline started flights to other destinations such as Edinburgh, Liverpool and Carlisle. On April 4, 1983 it inaugurated schedules to London Heathrow airport, becoming the first Scottish commuter airline to serve the capital. The airline also started flights for the Royal Mail with Short 360. By 1985 the company had 165 employees.

All flight operations were discontinued on January 19, 1987. Shortly thereafter the assets were sold to Malinair and, in November of the following year, to Peregrine Air Services (which was named after the famous bird of prey with the same name).

From Wikipedia’s article on Air Ecosse, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

Air Ecosse had the following aircraft in their fleet at the time that operations ceased;

Britten-Norman Trislander

DHC-6 Twin Otter

Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante

Read the full text

Handley Page HPR-7 Herald 209

Short 330-200

Short 360

From Wikipedia’s article on Air Ecosse, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. Jan 19, 1987Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. Jun 1977Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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