Isles of Scilly

Helicopters ad Hovercrafts make me think of the slightly “batty” world of the 60s and 70s, along with the decommissioning of Concord the loss of public travel by such means signals the ending of an era. I have flown to Scilly on this helicopter and I am told anyone who goes by the seasonal ferry needs a sick bag close at hand!

Whilst this story concerns a very far flung place it makes me reflect more broadly on the infrastructure challenges facing remote and rural places and how in a tight and largelly well connected island they get the rough end of the stick. This has major economic implications for more “near” remote places such as Cumbria, Cornwall and Herefordshire. I am not sure we think in rural places hard enough about how to respond to this drag on economic efficiency apart from suggesting more roads or broadband.

The article itself tells us:

The curtain will today fall on five decades of a helicopter service linking the Cornish mainland with Scilly as the final commercial flight with British International Helicopters (BIH) leaves the islands.

BIH announced in August plans to close its domestic helicopter passenger route between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly, from November 1.

The company said the decision was made due to a drop in passenger numbers and commercial reasons. Around 50 people have been made redundant as a result of the closure.

It means the archipelago will be left with Skybus plane flights six days a week, and the seasonal Scillonian ferry service – both run by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group.

Some residents described the move as “a kick in the teeth”, while others voiced concerns that Steamship Group would take advantage of the monopoly on access to Scilly by hiking up prices.