Akoz

Just found an article on the BBC reporting possible strike action at HIAL airports from Easter into the summer, may be worth following if anyone has plans to travel via INV.
Air Traffic strike ballot at HIAL airports

IntVic

Thanks for this heads up... I have a couple of ex INV and b2b positioning flights coming up... if strike action occurs on the day I wonder how BA will accommodate? I always plan my ex INV flights to be the day before my longhaul from LHR.

squawk

corporate-wage-slave

If it's HIAL then I would see this as EC, BA won't have much leverage there. If a flight is cancelled there is a 300 mile rule for replacement flights - BA will say getting to that getting to that airport is for your own expense (reality may be complicated). MAN is 298 miles, LBA is 271 miles so NCL and EDI would be fine. They may also be OK to drop the sector altogether. You would have to call up the Contact Centre to do this, the App rebooking can't handle this.

Akoz

Not sure about the APD implication, but there could be a case to simply reroute affected flights to ABZ, and bus people.

KARFA

you won't be asked to pay any APD which arises from an involuntary re-route.

Unless INV is marked as being closed or severely disputed for the date of travel I wouldn't expect BA to be rebooking to avoid it though - you would probably just get a text beforehand to ask you to arrive early

squawk

Very helpful information, thank you @corporate-wage-slave, @Akoz and @KARFA. Hopefully 1) the strikes won't go ahead, 2) if they do, we won't be affected on our day of travel. If those conditions are not satisfied, i.e. if a strike is scheduled for our travel date, we will hopefully have sufficient notice to cross that bridge nearer the time.

We're planning to get to INV the previous day (any tips for a hotel?) and are on the 11:25, so getting there early isn't a problem. But if it looks like there's a strike that will cause disruption, a reroute from NCL via Contact Centre would be helpful.

NCL is actually very convenient for us - we chose the return flight there, rather than returning to INV - so that would in some ways be ideal, as it would also save a hotel and train fare.

corporate-wage-slave

Jury's Inn is right by the bus stop with a direct service to the airport. Holiday Inn Express is my preference but it's the same bus stop and a half mile walk away.

squawk

Thanks (again) c-w-s - I suspect either will work for us! Appreciate your suggestions.

UKtravelbear

More helpful for next year but a Courtyard by Marriot is currently being build next to the airport and scheduled to open later this year as per Inverness Courier

Akoz

Due to open in Q4 this year