ScotAirways’ Dundee-London City route is continuing to “make a very valuable contribution to overall business,” the airline said yesterday, writes Brian Smith, aviation reporter.

The Scottish airline was also able to report a return to profitability for the first time since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

Commercial manager Jerry Froggett said, “Dundee is a very important contributor to the business and we feel we contribute to the local economy, whilst at the same time working hard to deliver best possible value to the Dundee flying public.

“Dundee is also a centre of employment for ScotAirways and we have now created in excess of 40 jobs locally.”

“It is also important for inward investment to the city and quite a few business start-ups in recent years have attributed their choice of location to the convenient connection to London.”

The airline, which is 90% owned by Perth brother and sister business tycoons Brian Soutar and Ann Gloag, achieved a profit of £120,857 for the year to December 31, 2004, after losing £1 million the previous year.

Formerly Suckling Airways, the company has lost millions of pounds in recent years, and its survival is due in no small part to the support and continuing investment of Soutar and Gloag.

Mr Froggett said, “We are pleased to be in the black, particularly as we spent the majority of last year in head-on competition with British Airways on the Edinburgh to London City route.”

The company is now thinking of re-introducing its domestic routes from Glasgow but Mr Froggett said that while the airline continued to monitor the situation at Dundee closely, it would be wrong to raise hopes prematurely.