Teesside Airport is facing a blow after an airline scrapped a weekly flight to a popular UK holiday destination. Loganair has announced it is cancelling all its flights from Newquay airport affecting a weekly flight to Teesside Airport, and four weekly flights to Newcastle.
The removal of the routes comes as a major blow to the region with the popular UK holiday spot now only reachable by a seven-hour drive or nine-hour train journey. It comes after an apparent disagreement between the airline and Newquay airport which has seen all flights from the South Western airport cancelled between November 2022 and March 2023.
Reacting to the news a spokesperson for Teesside Airport said they were “disappointed” by the withdrawal of the flights.
They said: “We are disappointed to see Loganair has pulled its routes to Newquay on what appears to be a disagreement between the airline and Newquay-Cornwall airport. We continue to work with numerous airline partners to look at growing our route connectivity.”
It comes after the airline also ended its route from Teesside to London Heathrow earlier this year.
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.”
Posting on LinkedIn, Chief Executive of Loganair Jonathan Hinkles blamed Newquay airport for “short-sighted” and “short-termist” decisions for the airline withdrawing the routes.
He wrote: “I believe the airport’s decisions are as short-sighted as they are short-termist, and will have genuinely adverse consequences for Cornwall’s year-round air connectivity.
“For now, Loganair will be consolidating our focus at other regional airports including Exeter, Cardiff and Southampton, where the airport teams recognise and value the benefits that year-round, sustainable connectivity brings.”