Fuel costs end airline's Newquay to London flights

An airline has abruptly cancelled its future flights between Cornwall and London due to the rising price of fuel.

Skybus has been operating the daily Newquay to London flights under a Public Service Obligation which was scheduled to end on 31 May.

Managing director Jonathan Hinkles blamed a "huge rise in the cost of fuel following the war in the Gulf" and a "significant drop" in passenger bookings.

The last flight will operate on Thursday and the airline said passengers due to fly on cancelled services would be fully refunded.

Hinkles said: "At a time of great economic uncertainty and steps being taken to conserve energy worldwide, it is neither environmentally nor economically sound for us to continue flying with vastly reduced passenger numbers."

He thanked passengers, local stakeholders and the Skybus team for their support.

One passenger said he received an email from Skybus on Wednesday afternoon saying his flight had been cancelled.

Former Royal Air Force officer Shane McLaughlin from Threemilestone had been due to fly from Newquay to Gatwick before flying on to Seville.

He said: "Gatwick is not the easiest airport to get to so our contingency is probably to use rail.

"The return journey will use up the best part of a day as opposed to getting back at breakfast time and that's the ideal thing with the timescales of the Skybus service."

The Newquay to London Gatwick route provided by Skybus was under a Passenger Service Obligation (PSO) contract jointly funded by the government and the council.

Skybus began the service on 23 November with a short-term contract after the previous operators, Eastern Airways, announced it was on the brink of entering administration.

EasyJet is due to begin a new twice-weekly service for the route on 23 June.

A spokesperson for Cornwall Airport Newquay said Ryanair continued to operate a year-round service to London Stansted.

Following Skybus' cancellation of flights they said: "This decision sits outside of the airport's control.

"London connectivity does, however, remain in place.

"Although this is not a direct replacement for the PSO route, London services will operate six days a week across the summer."

"We are actively working with airline partners and stakeholders to secure sustainable London connectivity for the future," they added.

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: "Cornwall Council is aware of Skybus's announcement regarding PSO flights.

"The council is considering its position and will provide a full response in due course."

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