Loganair, the UK’s largest regional airline, has announced that it will suspend operations at Cornwall Airport Newquay this winter.
Daily services to Manchester and onwards to Aberdeen, together with non-stop flights to Edinburgh and Newcastle, will be completely suspended between November 2022 and March 2023. In all, almost 300 flights scheduled to Newquay over the coming winter season have been withdrawn from the airline’s schedule.
In a further blow to Cornwall’s connectivity, summer routes linking Newquay with Teesside and onwards to Inverness will not return in 2023, and planned growth on other routes is to be redirected to other UK airports.
A spokesperson for Loganair said: “It’s with a heavy heart that we’ve taken the decision to withdraw our entire winter Newquay programme and to curtail our Summer 2023 plans too.
“Despite all of the challenges that the pandemic has delivered, we’ve worked incredibly hard over the last two years to build up our presence at Cornwall Airport Newquay. We’re most disappointed that short-sighted and short-term decisions by the airport’s management to incentivise unsustainable operations by other airlines leave no prospect of winter flights remaining viable, particularly against a backdrop of high fuel prices and rising inflation.
“In the meantime, we’ll be directing our efforts towards other UK regional airports such as Southampton, Exeter and Cardiff, where airport managements recognise and appreciate the enormous value that year-round, sustainable regional air services can bring to their communities and local economies.”
Cornwall Airport Newquay said: “We are disappointed that Loganair have made the decision to cancel their flights to Manchester and Edinburgh this winter but would like to reassure our passengers that a daily service to Manchester is still available with Flybe and we look forward to welcoming Loganair back on both routes in the spring.
“As an airport we are committed to serving the people and economy of Cornwall and this is what drives the commercial decisions we make as an airport. We are delighted that we now have more airlines operating from the airport than before the pandemic, offering destination and airline choice to suit every traveller.”
