Passengers flying to the main Scottish airports will be eligible

Transport Minister Tavish Scott has announced the ground-breaking scheme, which will cost �11m a year.

The offer is being made to passengers who live in the Northern and Western Isles as well as those in Islay, Jura and Caithness.

The discounts will not apply to flights from Barra, Tiree, or Campbeltown.

An executive spokeswoman said those areas were already covered by a different aid scheme designed to protect lifeline transport services which would not be commercially viable.

She added that under European rules individual routes could not get more than one aid scheme.

It is hoped the discount scheme will be up and running before the summer.

Fares from the far north of Scotland are often well above the fares charged to people to cross the Atlantic.

The transport minister told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that he wanted to ensure all parts of Scotland could benefit from reductions in air fares.

At the moment it costs more for a Shetland family to get to Aberdeen than an Aberdeen family to have a week's holiday in the Costa Del Sol Sandy Cluness Shetland Islands Council

Mr Scott said: "Shetland, Orkney, the Western Isles and other of the most peripheral parts of Scotland have never benefited from the aviation revolution that's happened through low cost carriers.

"We haven't seen the massive falls in the cost of flying, so we have been determined to tackle those problems and the scheme will do that.

"Once we have got European approval, it will bring in a reduction of around 40%."

Mr Scott, who is MSP for Shetland, said cheaper fares would be based on a residency scheme used in other parts of Europe.

Sandy Cluness, convener of Shetland Islands Council said the news had been welcomed by islanders.

He said: "People will be able to travel out of Shetland on business and on holiday for much less than before, and that has to be good for Shetland."

European approval

It is hoped the scheme will be ready in time for the summer holidays.

Mr Cluness added: "At the moment it costs more for a Shetland family to get to Aberdeen than an Aberdeen family to have a week's holiday in the Costa Del Sol".

The scheme, which is subject to European Commission approval, will apply to flights going to Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Passengers who live in the Northern and Western Isles will benefit

There will be no restriction on the number of trips taken and the discount will be available for both single and return journeys.

The aim is to deliver affordable air fares to Scotland's most peripheral communities.

There was some disappointment that the scheme would be based on residency.

Tourism industry

Andy Steven, area manager for Visitscotand said: "�400 is too much for us to travel out and I think it's the same for a visitor or family who want to come into Shetland.

"This announcement does very little if anything for growing tourism on the islands."

Mr Steven said competition could help drive down fares and called for more to be done to market the routes to other air carriers.

Loganair, which operates flights in the Highlands and Islands under a British Airways franchise, welcomed the move.

A spokesman said: "We have been working hard to reduce our air fares in the Highlands and Islands for some years now but it became clear that, without government help, these fares would always be higher than our passengers and we ourselves would wish."

The SNP welcomed the move, which they described as "long overdue" but its transport spokesman Fergus Ewing said measures must be put in place to prevent operators from increasing their undiscounted price.