Air Charter Scotland (PSO Wick to Aberdeen)

[styles]

I've had to re-plan some travel from Wick to the Central Belt this week.

I came across this: https://aircharterscotland.com

I'd not heard of them, but starting from Monday 12th January they're going to be operating Wick-Aberdeen with a Jetstream 32 leased from AIS.

The flight schedule looks to be...

WIC 0800-0855 ABZ (Mon-Thu)
WIC 1800-1855 ABZ (Fri)
WIC 1500-1555 ABZ (Sun)

ABZ 0930-1025 WIC (Mon-Thu)
ABZ 1930-2025 WIC (Fri)
ABZ 1630-1725 WIC (Sun)

For the journey I need to make, the times are not very helpful (and onward connections would mean zigzagging across to Stornoway to then get to Glasgow entirely by air), but it's £74.99 and I can connect with ScotRail/XC/Sleeper to finish heading south, so may be worth it for the novelty.

Has anybody here flown with them before? It's a public service offering so not exactly expecting the usual charter experience but curious nonetheless.

I do wish this were a Wick to Glasgow or Edinburgh service but it is what it is!

 

[Struner]

in the footsteps of Eastern Airways (now defunct). it’s a subsidized route, like the ones to Barra, Tiree etc

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I've had to re-plan some travel from Wick to the Central Belt this week.

I came across this: https://aircharterscotland.com

I'd not heard of them, but starting from Monday 12th January they're going to be operating Wick-Aberdeen with a Jetstream 32 leased from AIS.

Looking in the aircraft version of the combined volume ( data as of 28/02/25 ), I see that AIS have five Jetstreams:

PH-DCI
PH-FCI
PH NCI
PH-OCI
PH-RCI

The first is a former Israeli 3202; the other four are all former Swedish 3201s.


Air Charter Scotland itself has a rather mixed fleet of seven aircraft all of different types - so this looks like an operator with which one could pick up quite an interesting variety of types, although I suspect most may be on dedicated corporate charter services rather than being bookable - but there's always the chance of an "empty leg" movement being available for the dedicate type basher...

G-CGMC is an Embraer E-135ER
G-GDAB is an Embraer EMB-550 Paretor 600
G-MATO is a Dassault Falcon 7X
G-NOCM is a Cessna 525A Citation CJ2
G-SHUI is a Cessna 680A Citation Latitude
G-SUGR is an Embraer Legacy 650
G-WLKR is an Embraer Legacy 500

 

[GRALISTAIR]

How easy would be to do Aberdeen to Wick and then get the train back from Wick?

 

[styles]

How east would be to do Aberdeen to Wick and then get the train back from Wick?

It's 7-8 hours, or for the really inconvenient times, 10 hours, from Wick to Aberdeen.

Mind you, I'd be wanting Inverness for onwards travel south to Glasgow. That's about 8 hours Wick to Glasgow. The flight to Aberdeen would cut this down to closer to about 5 hours for the full journey, so it is quite the time saver. I'm not normally a fan of mainland domestic flights but getting to and from Wick is a real slog and even driving it it would be about 12 hours return trip which isn't ideal driving/riding hours for a single day.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

At least it does not look difficult to get between the airport and the railway station.

 

[styles]

View attachment 195488
At least it does not look difficult to get between the airport and the railway station.

Need to get lunch from somewhere as I hear the extent of the airport catering is a coffee machine

 

[Red Onion]

How easy would be to do Aberdeen to Wick and then get the train back from Wick?

I’ve done it, was fairly easy. The walk from Wick airport to the town centre isn’t far and there’s also a bus that runs (or did when I did the trip two years ago) and it left me time to get a quick bite to eat before the train. I also broke the journey in Inverness but a pleasant enough trip. I flew on Eastern though and the times might have been slightly different.

 

[AlterEgo]

The Jetstream will not be operating this route until March 1st. A King Air 200 with seven seats will instead operate until then.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The Jetstream will not be operating this route until March 1st. A King Air 200 with seven seats will instead operate until then.

Another good reason for me to do the journey. I have traveled multiple times on a King Air E90 but not the 200.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Need to get lunch from somewhere as I hear the extent of the airport catering is a coffee machine

Large Tesco at the end of the (closed) north-south runway.

 

[route101]

Is there demand for a link from Wick to Glasgow or Edinburgh?

 

[styles]

Is there demand for a link from Wick to Glasgow or Edinburgh?

Eastern used to operate Wick to Edinburgh, and the Highlands council is hoping to return it.

 

[Stathern Jc]

If you're walking to the station in Wick, you can take a short diversion and walk the full length of the world's shortest steet.
According to Wiki, Ebenezer Place has been credited by The Guinness Book of Records; and is little more than the front door of MacKay's Hotel. Just walk the long way around the mini roundabout at the end of Bridge St.
Apologies for digressing here, but if anyone happens to be in Wick it would be a pity to pass by without having realised its distinction.

 

[Cowley]

Thread reopened for @styles to add to

 

[styles]

Air Charter Scotland have now (as of Sunday) introduced a Glasgow to Wick service: https://aircharterscotland.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Air_Charter_Scotland_Wick_PSO_Route.pdf

It is now basically:

• Mon - Wick->Aberdeen->Glasgow AM; Glasgow->Wick PM
• Tue - Wick->Aberdeen AM, Aberdeen->Wick PM
• Wed - Wick->Glasgow AM, Glasgow->Wick PM
• Thu - Wick->Aberdeen AM, Aberdeen->Wick PM
• Fri - Wick->Aberdeen PM, Aberdeen->Wick PM
• Sat - no service
• Sun - Glasgow->Aberdeen->Wick PM

Frustratingly, they've ditched their online booking platform for an email address.

It's a 4 year contract with annual break clauses.

Fares for this year will be:

• Wick-Aberdeen single - £79.99 standard, £109.99 flex
• Wick-Aberdeen return - £149.00 standard, £199.00 flex
• Wick-Glasgow single - £119.99 standard, £149.99 flex
• Wick-Glasgow return - £229.00 standard, £279.00 flex

All Jetstream 32s still.

 

[AlterEgo]

It looks like they are hoping to get online booking back. But the Glasgow to Wick via Aberdeen route looks genuinely useful for me, so I may end up on this...

 

[ainsworth74]

But the Glasgow to Wick via Aberdeen route looks genuinely useful for me, so I may end up on this...

Feel free to tell me to mind my own business but I must confess to being intrigued how a Glasgow to Wick via Aberdeen service is useful to someone in Leighton Buzzard?

 

[AlterEgo]

Feel free to tell me to mind my own business but I must confess to being intrigued how a Glasgow to Wick via Aberdeen service is useful to someone in Leighton Buzzard?

(Long Buckby)

But yes, I do actually have a plan to be in Wick/Thurso later this year to do...a daft thing. Having said that I am also tempted by using Ember for the first time from Inverness and keeping my carbon footprint a little cleaner.

 

[The exile]

(Long Buckby)

But yes, I do actually have a plan to be in Wick/Thurso later this year to do...a daft thing. Having said that I am also tempted by using Ember for the first time from Inverness and keeping my carbon footprint a little cleaner.

A doorstep survey based on Altnabreac, by any chance?

 

[ainsworth74]

(Long Buckby)

Leighton Buzzard, Long Buckby, they're all the same weird down south places to me

But yes, I do actually have a plan to be in Wick/Thurso later this year to do...a daft thing. Having said that I am also tempted by using Ember for the first time from Inverness and keeping my carbon footprint a little cleaner.

Well hopefully it'll be a video, and I'll look forward to it!

 

[styles]

A doorstep survey based on Altnabreac, by any chance?

Funnily enough, this is part of what caught my attention. It's a long journey getting to the courts for the Altnabreac cases. I wouldn't normally support domestic flights but if I can connect at Glasgow to get to Wick for the hearings which aren't video link, that's a great help. It will cut a massive between 5 and 9 hours off the travel time if the days line up.

For anyone staying near the central belt who has business up in Wick, or vice versa, I could see it being helpful for them also. It'll be interesting to see what the uptake is in reality though.

 

[Struner]

It doesn’t extend to Kirkwall, alas…
Would make a nice detour when flying ABZ KOI - for a change
(I once flew KOI WIC ABZ, BEA Viscount, lot of luggage plus bike - not a real problem. & bike in the back of the airport bus to Aberdeen, those were the days )
All the same, it could fit into a forum outing to Altnabreac: AMS-INV, WIC-ABZ-AMS - or the other way round.

 

[joncombe]

An airline that doesn't offer online booking, even if only temporarily, is very unusual in 2026. It certainly makes it more challenging to book if you have to wait for a reply to an email to confirm availability first. And how do you pay, at the check in desk?! Or over the phone? Bizarre.

 

[styles]

An airline that doesn't offer online booking, even if only temporarily, is very unusual in 2026. It certainly makes it more challenging to book if you have to wait for a reply to an email to confirm availability first. And how do you pay, at the check in desk?! Or over the phone? Bizarre.

They had an online booking system when it was just Aberdeen to Wick.

Before starting the Wick flights, they were a charter operator, where not having an online booking system is actually fairly common. Normally your personal assistant would call up the charter company and arrange a flight at a time which suits you.

I'm sure the online booking will come back.

 

[AlterEgo]

An airline that doesn't offer online booking, even if only temporarily, is very unusual in 2026. It certainly makes it more challenging to book if you have to wait for a reply to an email to confirm availability first. And how do you pay, at the check in desk?! Or over the phone? Bizarre.

The flight to Fair Isle from Tingwall is online reservation but payment is taken - even by cash! - only half an hour before departure. I assume this is because these flights sometimes carry critical medical patients or other people making urgent trips and they can therefore bump you with no comeback as there is no contract formed until the plane is basically sitting out front ready to go.

 

[Cloud Strife]

The flight to Fair Isle from Tingwall is online reservation but payment is taken - even by cash! - only half an hour before departure. I assume this is because these flights sometimes carry critical medical patients or other people making urgent trips and they can therefore bump you with no comeback as there is no contract formed until the plane is basically sitting out front ready to go.

Yup, that's exactly the reason. Those flights can be cancelled or moved around at very short notice depending on need, so it's the best way to do things. Usually the flights aren't cancelled as such, just that the schedule will be rearranged for the day. Given the slow pace of life up there, it's really not a bother for anyone.

Air Charter Scotland have now (as of Sunday) introduced a Glasgow to Wick service: https://aircharterscotland.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Air_Charter_Scotland_Wick_PSO_Route.pdf

This is very good news, because it also opens up more connectivity from the north to the west of Scotland.