Business don't want helicopter service says LEP Chair!

From Scilly Today (15 May). The Chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership says Scilly’s tourism businesses don’t want the helicopters back because the competition could damage Skybus.

Chris Pomfret chaired the LEP Board meeting on St Mary’s on Tuesday 12 May and afterwards hosted a Scilly business meeting. You can read the full article and the many comments challenging his assertion here.

Comment from FRIST Spokesperson (Marian Bennett)

It was surprising to hear Chris Pomfret, Chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership, on Radio Scilly saying that none of the local business people he met with this week wanted the helicopter service back. From the significant number of people who have contacted FRIST, including those with tourism businesses, that statement is totally untrue. There is a general recognition that the reintroduction of a rotary service is unlikely for financial reasons, and ‘resilience’ has improved with the hardening of Land’s End runway, particularly for the winter service. BUT helicopters are ideally suited to islands and statements such as the one the LEP Chairman has made are not helpful if we want to see the best possible transport services in the long term. Resilience has improved but it is still not good!