Lifeline air services to some of the country's most fragile island communities are being suspended throwing travel plans of residents into chaos.

 

Residents of Coll, Colonsay, Tiree and Islay have been left shocked after talks broke down between the operator of the service to and from Oban Airport and Argyll and Bute Council.

The Public Service obligation (PSO) will now be suspended from Saturday, May 16 after the council's contract with Hebridean Air Services Ltd (HASL) runs out the previous day.

The company has been accused of submitting an inflated bid well over the council's £2.1 million three-year budget. The local authority said the suspension will delay flights until next summer.

Sheena Nisbet, the chair of Colonsay Community Council, said the suspension is the last thing they need with the current problems on the CalMac ferry services. She added the air service was an essential lifeline to the 130 islanders and a special meeting is to be held on the island to discuss the crisis.

Mrs Nisbet said: "This is a nightmare, we depend on the plane for medical services, we have schoolchildren who depend on it to get back from Oban High School at the weekends and if there is an emergency and we have to get to the mainland fast, we use the plane."

John Macaskill, vice convener of Tiree Community Council said they would be writing to the Scottish Government and Argyll and Bute Council to complain.

He said: "It's a big blow and we are concerned that this has come at the eleventh hour, when a new tender is due to start in a matter of weeks.

"We are looking for answers to why the tendering process went wrong."

On Coll, resident Alex Maclean-Bristol described the suspension of the

air service as "disastrous."

He said: "It is a vital lifeline service and Hebridean Air Services have done a good service this winter.

"We need to get the air service resumed and out of suspension as quickly as possible."

HASL has operated the service under contract to the council since May 2011 and has overseen a growth in passenger numbers of over 40% on the routes in the last four years.

Andy Jolly, General Manager of HASL, said they had been left with no alternative but to advise travellers of the suspension of services, as they had no contract to continue.

Mr Jolly, whose company operates a nine seater BN2P Islander plane on the routes said: "The Hebridean Tender for the provision of these services for the period May 16, 2015 to May 15, 2018 was submitted to the Argyll and Bute Council on February 17, 2015."

He said they are liable under European Union laws for compensation for some 350 passengers who had already booked seats until October. They would be fully refunded, he added.

But he added: "The contract has not been finalised and we have 350 passengers pre-booked, from May 16th until October."

Argyll SNP General Election candidate Michael Russell said: "I am absolutely shocked that the council have known about the fact that this service would have to be withdrawn for about the last fortnight and have done nothing. I will be getting in touch with the council and with the Government."

A spokesman for Argyll and Bute Council accused Hebridean Air Services of "walking away from negotiations"

He added: "Although there were expressions of interest from a number of operators only HASL made a tender submission, with an inflated bid being well over the council's £2.121million three-year budget, and two variant offers which were also well over budget. The option existed for HASL to submit a bid for a reduced service, however, it chose not to do so.

"The council fully recognise the importance of air services to the islands, however, the flights must be sustainable and any subsidy has to provide best value for the public purse."

Although there is no other bidder the spokesman claimed it could raise legal issues, in terms of overcompensation, if they paid