Loganair is to cull flights from Aberdeen to Newquay this winter, while Inverness summer services next year will also be canned in a move the airline is blaming on “short-sighted decisions” by the Cornish airport.
Daily services from Cornwall Airport Newquay 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In all, almost 300 flights scheduled to Newquay during the coming winter season have been withdrawn from the airline’s schedule.
In a further blow to services from the north, 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.
Loganair disappointed by Cornwall Airport’s ‘short-sighted’ decisions
“Despite all the challenges 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.”
Loganair, which recently added extra more capacity on flights between Aberdeen and Dublin, has contacted all customers with forward winter bookings on the affected routes to offer a change of travel date or refund options.
Loganair’s summer 2023 flights are now on sale as normal.
Cornwall Airport Newquay was not immediately available for comment.
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