It wasn’t until the 1940s that commercial flights from Scotland to London began – but they remained the preserve of the wealthy as these were too expensive for anything but the richest to consider. The appetite for flying increased over the next few decades and in the 1960s the emphasis for our agents businesses moved from shipping to airlines.....

From our inception in 1920 to today, the SPAA remains a highly regarded organisation. We celebrate a century of consulting with rail, airline and shipping companies on major issues which affect travel, customers and of course our members.

We’ve negotiated and lobbied on everything from new routes to reductions of agents’ commissions and pay on board schemes. It was the SPAA who first, in 2002, introduced the idea of a £1 levy on all passengers in case of airline failures. We continue to discuss and lobby for this to be introduced.

The landscape for global travel constantly evolves. And, as we entered our centenary celebrations we continued our work on behalf of the Scottish travel trade as we actively lobby both the UK and Scottish governments for a road map out of the 2020/21’s pandemic travel restrictions.

Our ethos has been – and remains – to keep on talking … even if we don’t always agree. Read more