Flybe: Cornish connection to Heathrow is axed after less than a year

48 hours after Flybe gets government bail-out, Newquay slots go to Europe

Fly away: a Flybe Q400 aircraft at Heathrow airport (AFP/Getty)

At the end of a bizarre evening during which the local MP retracted his story about Newquay-Heathrow flights, Cornwall Council has confirmed the flagship service will end after less than a year.

Flybe, which was this week bailed out by the government, will end its route from Newquay to Europe's busiest airport. The London service will revert to Gatwick – which has fewer connections – at the end of March.

The demise of the link with Europe’s busiest airport had been widely predicted. Flybe had refused to sell tickets on the route for beyond 28 March.

The switch from Heathrow to Gatwick was first confirmed on Thursday afternoon by the local Conservative MP, Steve Double, who said: “The proposed changes provide the best way forward for both the airline and Cornwall.”

He later retracted his statement, having apparently jumped the gun on the announcement.

But shortly before 11pm, Cornwall Council issued a statement headed: “Flights between Cornwall Airport Newquay and London Gatwick to be reinstated from April 2020.”

In fact, the link will start on 29 March 2020, the day after the final Flybe flight to and from Heathrow. The first of four daily departures will be at 7.05am.

Cornwall Council’s cabinet portfolio holder for transport, Geoff Brown, said: “Some will miss the current direct route into London Heathrow but I know that the reinstatement of the direct route into London Gatwick will be popular with many travellers who have missed the connectivity it offers to some other international destinations.”

The Newquay-Heathrow route was launched only on 31 March 2019 – shortly after Flybe was taken over by a consortium comprising Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and a US investment fund, Cyrus Capital.

The four daily landing and take-off slots at Heathrow currently used for Newquay flights are estimated to be worth around £100m.

Rumours are rife in the aviation industry about how Flybe may use the “slot pairs” that will be freed up by ending the Cornish link.

The link would feed traffic to Virgin Atlantic’s long-haul routes from Heathrow.

The two leading candidates appear to be either the second Paris airport, Orly – currently unserved from the primary London airport – or Dusseldorf, which has existing services on British Airways and the Lufthansa subsidiary, Eurowings.

Also on 29 March, Flybe will launch a new route from Newquay to Amsterdam, which – like Heathrow – will offer a wide range of connection possibilities.

The main beneficiary of the six flights each week is likely to be the Dutch airline KLM, which is part of Air France.