According to Loganair's boss, late-track trials could shut down roads

The boss of the Scottish airline Loganair said that an increase in claims for compensation for flights disrupted by bad weather could require it to cancel its routes.

Jonathan Hinkles said some "no win" lawyers were aggressively gaining airlines after trawling for customers whose flights had been disrupted.

Loganair returned to profit after losses of nearly 9 million pounds sterling.

The company has been facing tremendous restructuring costs after breaking a franchise agreement with its rival Flybe.

The result was a damaging price war, with the two competitors competing on several highland routes.

Customer service

Elsewhere, EU legislation has facilitated legal action in the event of a theft problem, but Mr Hinkles explained on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that the laws were poorly written.

"What we're seeing right now is that people are starting to complain to the courts because of weather delays – we can not do anything about it as an airline. We can not do anything, it is taking care of our customers.

"To be faced with compensations that exceed the value of the ticket several times for this type of delay is very bad news – for the Highlands and the islands in particular."

Mr Hinkles said the trend had already rendered unsustainable some airline services, adding: "You have seen a number of roads close in the UK.

"We did not have any of these in the Loganair road network.

But if this is prolonged by the case law regarding weather delays, it has the absolute potential to see some smaller marginal roads – thus potentially making these roads unsustainable ".

At the same time, Loganair announced an annual profit of £ 1 million and a turnover of £ 120 million, as a result of the restructuring costs it faced after the deal flybe.

The Glasgow-based airline, which serves several European countries, said it was now the fifth largest number of flights in the UK.

He hired pilots, cabin crew members and engineers from the flybmi regional airline, which collapsed, and launched or is in the process of launching new routes into Esbad and Carlisle, as well as in Norway, Denmark, Germany and Brussels.

Mr Hinkles said: "This is proof that the strategy we have adopted to rename Loganair, the Scottish airline implemented almost two years ago – operates in a context where the industry is facing many challenges. "

Follow the news of BBC presenter Andrew Black every morning of the week on BBC Radio Scotland for the latest news on business. Hello Scotland program between 06:00 and 09:00.