Newquay to Gatwick to end

[Chiltern006]

A short-sighted decision has been made to cut the Newquay to London route from the 31st May. Cornwall Council have pulled the funding for it. A decision which I hope will be reversed.

Link to Skybus website

PSO Air Services – Cornwall to London Gatwick​

News:NewsPress release13 Feb 26
At a meeting of Cornwall Council’s cabinet this morning, the Council has voted in favour of discontinuing its support for the PSO air service between Cornwall Airport Newquay and London. At the same meeting, it has been confirmed that support for the air service has been withdrawn from the Council’s budget.
It is with sincere regret that we therefore must confirm that Skybus services from Cornwall Airport Newquay to London Gatwick must cease by 31 May 2026. Our team is proceeding to initiate contact with all passengers who hold forward bookings from that date to arrange a full refund of all monies paid and to convey our disappointment that many must now face arduous alternative travel plans to London.
Skybus stepped in to operate the service from 23 November 2025 following the collapse of the previous operator.
Jonathan Hinkles, Skybus’ Managing Director, said:
“It is bitterly ironic – on Friday 13th of all days, and in the week where passenger loads have been at their highest since the PSO resumed under Skybus operation – that the Council has voted to close the route. We stepped in at short notice to maintain services with high hopes for Cornwall, for the airport and for the travelling public that a long-term solution to connect the county to the capital could be maintained.”
Skybus had submitted a full bid with four options to the Council to continue the PSO from 1 June 2026. We were the only airline to table proposals: the Council has confirmed to Skybus that no other airlines were interested. The Council has, for technical reasons, elected neither to consider our bid nor enter into any dialogue over a single disputed element of Cornwall Airport Newquay’s fees and charges.
“We have grave concerns about the impact of this decision on Cornwall’s essential connectivity, on continued employment in Cornwall’s aviation sector and most specifically for the viability of Cornwall Airport Newquay. The PSO – 50% funded by the UK Department for Transport, funding which will now be lost – made a huge contribution towards the airport’s finances, where other commercial air routes operate on the basis of significant discounts to its rack-rate fees and charges. Even if a limited replacement London service now appears, the loss of income to the airport based on huge discounts it has to offer will render its financial position wholly unsustainable.”
“All we can now do is to express our thanks to all those who have supported Skybus, including our passengers and team members who’ve worked so hard to deliver this at short notice. It is hugely sad that their efforts and commitment could not be reciprocated with fulsome support of the Council, which has clearly had its own agenda that will prove incredibly damaging to aviation in Cornwall for years to come.”
Skybus can confirm that all customer monies are secure and will be refunded for flights booked to take place after 31 May 2026.
Skybus will continue to serve Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, where it has operated successfully for over 40 years.

 

[ainsworth74]

I know it had some regular users but I got the impression that it was never exactly busy? I think in financially tough times it can be hard to justify what is probably a very expensive service if it only benefits a handful of people. Obviously extremely difficult for those that did rely on it though!

 

[The exile]

I know it had some regular users but I got the impression that it was never exactly busy? I think in financially tough times it can be hard to justify what is probably a very expensive service if it only benefits a handful of people. Obviously extremely difficult for those that did rely on it though!

It’s hardly a PSO- type route like the various Scottish islands. Unlike railways, which also need subsidies, it doesn’t also serve local or regional demand.

 

[pug1]

A short-sighted decision has been made to cut the Newquay to London route from the 31st May. Cornwall Council have pulled the funding for it. A decision which I hope will be reversed

It wasn’t attracting enough passengers. Eastern Airways won it on a very low ball offer thinking they’d be able to generate enough usage. They didn’t. I expect any negotiations with other airlines resulted in requests for higher rates which is probably not affordable and/or doesn’t offer value for money.

 

[185143]

Is there a real reason why Newquay needs a flight to both Stansted and Gatwick, beyond "it's always been the way"?

With no disrespect to Cornwall, the population isn't that high. And unless you're travelling from Newquay itself, the drive/taxi/bus to the airport will probably be longer than getting to the nearest mainline station with regular direct trains to London.

Factor in the travel time to the airport, the cost of doing so, the cost of the flight, luggage/liquid restrictions, and then having to get the train from Gatwick into London. Using St. Austell as an example, it's a bit over 4hr 15 mins to Paddington. Compared to a 26 minute drive to Newquay Airport, 1hr 20 minute flight time, plus 30 or so minutes on a train to Victoria. That's 2hr 15mins before you factor in allowing even a single minute for security, bag drops, collecting luggage and walking from the aircraft to the station at Gatwick.

Seems like a lot of hassle for a marginally quicker journey in the best case scenario really. It definitely has value if you're connecting at Gatwick of course, but aside from that, it wouldn't even register as an option to me personally.

 

[richardderby]

Cornwall putting a lot of money into the rail service at Newquay, with a more frequent service, double the current service, which seems a more sustainable option than paying flight subsidies.

From the Mid Cornwall Metro official page:

Mid Cornwall Metro

Mid Cornwall Metro is a £56.8m project to transform local journeys - connecting people with work, study and leisure.

midcornwallmetro.com

From 2026, the service between Newquay and Par (which currently has trains every two hours) will double to hourly.

A new rail passing loop at Tregoss Moor will allow trains to pass each other. This will enable local and long-distance services to operate concurrently - meaning local services can run all year round, giving an additional 700,000 seats both ways on the line, each year.

There will be changes to the intermediate station calling pattern in the train timetable.

 

[ollyexe2808]

Is there a real reason why Newquay needs a flight to both Stansted and Gatwick, beyond "it's always been the way"?

With no disrespect to Cornwall, the population isn't that high. And unless you're travelling from Newquay itself, the drive/taxi/bus to the airport will probably be longer than getting to the nearest mainline station with regular direct trains to London.

Factor in the travel time to the airport, the cost of doing so, the cost of the flight, luggage/liquid restrictions, and then having to get the train from Gatwick into London. Using St. Austell as an example, it's a bit over 4hr 15 mins to Paddington. Compared to a 26 minute drive to Newquay Airport, 1hr 20 minute flight time, plus 30 or so minutes on a train to Victoria. That's 2hr 15mins before you factor in allowing even a single minute for security, bag drops, collecting luggage and walking from the aircraft to the station at Gatwick.

Seems like a lot of hassle for a marginally quicker journey in the best case scenario really. It definitely has value if you're connecting at Gatwick of course, but aside from that, it wouldn't even register as an option to me personally.

Completely agree. The PSO doesn't really fit compared to, say, the Inter- Isles Orkney service. I used to live in Newquay and did the flight once for a family emergency, the bus out to the airport, plus time checking in, boarding and disembarking, made for more hassle than just a train to Par and then all the way to London. Whilst I am not a fan of domestic flights anyway, I can see the benefits of PSO services, especially in the Highlands and Islands but not in Cornwall. The Mid Cornwall Metro also helps. Spend the subsidies on rail instead.

 

[geoffk]

Completely agree. The PSO doesn't really fit compared to, say, the Inter- Isles Orkney service. I used to live in Newquay and did the flight once for a family emergency, the bus out to the airport, plus time checking in, boarding and disembarking, made for more hassle than just a train to Par and then all the way to London. Whilst I am not a fan of domestic flights anyway, I can see the benefits of PSO services, especially in the Highlands and Islands but not in Cornwall. The Mid Cornwall Metro also helps. Spend the subsidies on rail instead.

Is this the only UK flight in receipt of a PSO grant which isn't linking the mainland with one of the islands?

 

[AlterEgo]

Is this the only UK flight in receipt of a PSO grant which isn't linking the mainland with one of the islands?

Dundee to London Heathrow is also PSO, as is Wick to Aberdeen and Derry to London Heathrow. Campbeltown to Glasgow too.

Derry to Dublin will start soon and is a PSO flight departing from the UK, funded by the Irish government.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The DfT reduced its PSO contribution from 2/3 to 1/2 which has not helped. London City would have been a better destination for business types.

The railway is so slow west of Exeter that many Cornish folk drive to Tiverton Parkway to catch the train - the A30 is now dual carriageway all the way from Exeter to west of Camborne.

 

[sh24]

I used it a couple of times when there was strike action and I had to be in to Plymouth. NQY isn't a massively convenient airport, has poor onward transport links and generally it was a lot more faff than the train. If the airport was just outside Truro..or further west still...the route might have worked better.

Quite a few business people I know in Cornwall prefer the train, or drive part way to Tiverton Parkway (as noted above) rather than an infrequent air link.

 

[pug1]

Completely agree. The PSO doesn't really fit compared to, say, the Inter- Isles Orkney service. I used to live in Newquay and did the flight once for a family emergency, the bus out to the airport, plus time checking in, boarding and disembarking, made for more hassle than just a train to Par and then all the way to London. Whilst I am not a fan of domestic flights anyway, I can see the benefits of PSO services, especially in the Highlands and Islands but not in Cornwall. The Mid Cornwall Metro also helps. Spend the subsidies on rail instead.

I think this is the case for most regional air routes. The U.K. mainland doesn’t really lend itself well to inter-regional air travel. Unless there was a link up to LHR for connections then don’t bother, people travelling to London already have the Ryanair option that isn’t subsidised, but rail will usually beat air when all things are considered.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Is there a real reason why Newquay needs a flight to both Stansted and Gatwick, beyond "it's always been the way"?

I could be wrong, but I think the PSO was to 'A London airport', not to those in particular. So, if someone could get a slot for Heathrow, they could fly there.

But yes, seems pretty pointless to have the PSO to Gatwick. Probably the most sensible option for Cornwall would be to try and get a slot at Heathrow at the same time (ish) every day, so that an operator could fly to Newquay and back. Newquay-Heathrow is quite sensible when you consider the onwards connection possibilities, but whether the council would be willing/able to invest in a pair of slots at Heathrow is another question.

 

[sh24]

Flybe had and used LHR slots for NQY. Not sure it was wildly successful.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It's always the issue with any sort of PSO, providing millions in taxpayer funding for flights that are only accessible to the wealthiest people or businesses is always a tough sell.

Ryanair don't operate every day, they come in and hoover up the weekend traffic and destroy the weekend yields for any smaller airline trying to operate a daily service. EasyJet are the same. That's why it needs to be a PSO.

But people who will never be able to afford Skybus (or Eastern, or Flybe) fares will- rightly- question why they're paying to subsidise the service when the money could instead be spent on rail or bus improvements.

We have similar discussions in the Isle of Man, where our PSO flights to Heathrow and City cost us about £4m-£5m a year. EasyJet fly daily, and often twice-daily, from IOM to Gatwick, and their fares are lower than Loganair on the PSO. People do, understandably, question why their money is being used to subsidise a flight that they themselves cannot afford to take. Much as I prefer flying to City, it's hard to disagree with them.

I think Cornwall Council have probably taken the right decision here. But back to the drawing board for Hinkles and Skybus.

 

[Cloud Strife]

We have similar discussions in the Isle of Man, where our PSO flights to Heathrow and City cost us about £4m-£5m a year.

I do wonder how the economics play out, as in, does the Isle of Man get a benefit from people being able to quickly get to/from the City and Heathrow? I understand the sense in having a direct flight from Heathrow because it's essentially a connection to the world, and I assume the City flights are fantastic for the world of finance.

edit: looking now, there's a flight from London City at 08:55 to the Isle of Man, returning at 16:50. Absolutely perfect for getting some business done in a day, and presumably intentionally timed that way.

 

[jamesr]

I do wonder how the economics play out, as in, does the Isle of Man get a benefit from people being able to quickly get to/from the City and Heathrow? I understand the sense in having a direct flight from Heathrow because it's essentially a connection to the world, and I assume the City flights are fantastic for the world of finance.

edit: looking now, there's a flight from London City at 08:55 to the Isle of Man, returning at 16:50. Absolutely perfect for getting some business done in a day, and presumably intentionally timed that way.

As someone who worked in the finance industry on the Isle of Man, those City flights are viewed as more reliable than EasyJet, better timed for business (and often used for day trips) and used for through bookings to other flights to Europe and beyond. Through ticketing is hugely valuable when the link is not always 100% reliable and you might need to be rebooked to a later date.

The finance industry has always viewed multiple daily flights as a necessity to remain competitive with the Channel Islands.

Back when BA flew the route we used to be regularly asked as a business to buy a certain number of tickets per year in advance, with a veiled threat that if insufficient businesses took them up on the offer, they might pull the route.

Switching back to Newquay airport, I’ve used it a handful of times with family based west of Penzance. But by the time we’ve driven to Newquay, allowed time for traffic queues, checked in and got on a plane, I could be at Tiverton Parkway or well past Exeter on the A303 anyway, so given the travel time from Gatwick, it’s time saving to central London is pretty minimal.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I do wonder how the economics play out, as in, does the Isle of Man get a benefit from people being able to quickly get to/from the City and Heathrow? I understand the sense in having a direct flight from Heathrow because it's essentially a connection to the world, and I assume the City flights are fantastic for the world of finance.

As someone who worked in the finance industry on the Isle of Man, those City flights are viewed as more reliable than EasyJet, better timed for business (and often used for day trips) and used for through bookings to other flights to Europe and beyond. Through ticketing is hugely valuable when the link is not always 100% reliable and you might need to be rebooked to a later date.

The finance industry has always viewed multiple daily flights as a necessity to remain competitive with the Channel Islands.

BA CityFlyer had pulled the IOM-City flights even before Covid, first by sub-contracting operation to Loganair and then by just having the Loganair flight as a codeshare. The London flight was moved to Heathrow during Covid as a way of maintaining essential links (and also, I suspect, because quite a number of BA pilots live in the Isle of Man). We now have two flights a day to London- one to City in the evening, one to Heathrow at lunchtime- and on certain days there's also an additional morning City flight.

On the days the morning City flight runs it is possible to have a day trip, either on the island or in London. Otherwise it still requires an overnight.

Through ticketing is wonderful, although that's not confined to the London flights. I have just been to Dubai and I got through tickets via Loganair to Manchester through Emirates.

I think it probably is worth paying for, but at a time when living costs are going up a noisy minority of people here are questioning why we're giving so much money to Loganair. I prefer to use Loganair where I can but sometimes the price difference is too much; for my next trip to London, Loganair were £100 more expensive than EasyJet- and that was after I bought a hold bag on EasyJet. You can see why people are questioning the merit of subsidising Loganair when, for most people, they will be using EasyJet anyway.

I imagine the dial shifts even further away from paying for the PSO when you don't have the practicalities of island life to consider. Through ticketing isn't such an issue when you can just drive or take the train to Heathrow. I used the PSO from Newquay to Gatwick once, back in the Flybe days, and by the time I'd paid for a taxi to get me from Perranporth to Newquay I wished I'd just caught the train from Truro. For travel from Manchester, though, the plane remains a no-brainer. Does anyone know if the Loganair Manchester-Newquay (sometimes operated with an IOM-based aircraft!) operate as a PSO?

 

[AlterEgo]

Does anyone know if the Loganair Manchester-Newquay (sometimes operated with an IOM-based aircraft!) operate as a PSO?

It doesn't. It's a normal commercial route.

 

[Wilko82]

By all accounts the route this past week has been totally shambolic and chaotic, with delays and cancellations galore. Titan have had to step in 3 or 4 times, so it appears the plane that Skybus are using is suffering from reliability issues. Today's flight for example was operated in reverse by Titan so the flight from Newquay to London left nearly 4 hours late and even then it operated to Stansted instead of Gatwick, which is a tad ironic given that there was a commercial Ryanair service from Newquay to Stansted that departed Newquay at the same time the Gatwick service was supposed to leave.

 

[pug1]

By all accounts the route this past week has been totally shambolic and chaotic, with delays and cancellations galore. Titan have had to step in 3 or 4 times, so it appears the plane thelat Skybus are using is suffering from reliability issues. Today's flight for example was operated by in reverse from Titan so the flight from Newquay left nearly 4 hours late and even then it operated to Stansted instead of Gatwick, which is a tad ironic given that there was a commercial Ryanair service from Newquay to Stansted that departed Newquay at the same time the Gatwick service was supposed to leave.

It’s amazing to think that there were people elsewhere praying for the demise of Eastern Airways so that someone ‘more grown up’ could take it on. Yet here we are, in the same position if not worse. This wasn’t a smash and grab, this was a last ditched attempt for Eastern to keep the money coming in!

It’s a good job the Cornish authorities decided to end this fiasco.

 

[Wilko82]

It’s amazing to think that there were people elsewhere praying for the demise of Eastern Airways so that someone ‘more grown up’ could take it on. Yet here we are, in the same position if not worse. This wasn’t a smash and grab, this was a last ditched attempt for Eastern to keep the money coming in!

It’s a good job the Cornish authorities decided to end this fiasco.

Totally agree, you can't just keep throwing money, especially taxpayer's money at it in the hope it sticks. The route is quite clearly a money pit, as Eastern were doing charter work to prop the route up, and Skybus have brought in what appears to be an old shed of an aircraft which appears to be owned and operated by a Maltese airline, who have been a failure everywhere they have run similar flights before, so they must be the cheapest around and scraping the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Skybus have brought in what appears to be an old shed of an aircraft which appears to be owned and operated by a Maltese airline

If I recall correctly, Skybus intended to use an Aurigny ATR72 but Aurigny had to delay the agreement as their own usage requirements have increased. Not so much that Skybus are penny pinching, more that there aren’t many options when you need a long term lease in a hurry.

Then bringing Titan in shouldn’t be criticised. It’s certainly not either the cheap option or the easy option. It’s annoying to be delayed but they could have just cancelled the flight and put everyone into taxis.

 

[WestCoast]

It's always the issue with any sort of PSO, providing millions in taxpayer funding for flights that are only accessible to the wealthiest people or businesses is always a tough sell.

Ryanair don't operate every day, they come in and hoover up the weekend traffic and destroy the weekend yields for any smaller airline trying to operate a daily service. EasyJet are the same. That's why it needs to be a PSO.

But people who will never be able to afford Skybus (or Eastern, or Flybe) fares will- rightly- question why they're paying to subsidise the service when the money could instead be spent on rail or bus improvements.

We have similar discussions in the Isle of Man, where our PSO flights to Heathrow and City cost us about £4m-£5m a year. EasyJet fly daily, and often twice-daily, from IOM to Gatwick, and their fares are lower than Loganair on the PSO. People do, understandably, question why their money is being used to subsidise a flight that they themselves cannot afford to take. Much as I prefer flying to City, it's hard to disagree with them.

I think Cornwall Council have probably taken the right decision here. But back to the drawing board for Hinkles and Skybus.

Across the water, the Irish Government awarded the Kerry - Dublin PSO to Ryanair, no idea what the commercial terms are but they operate twice daily at mostly very reasonable fares. I do wonder if the same solution could not be sought where aircraft size permits like it would with Newquay - Stansted.

 

[berneyarms]

Across the water, the Irish Government awarded the Kerry - Dublin PSO to Ryanair, no idea what the commercial terms are but they operate twice daily at mostly very reasonable fares. I do wonder if the same solution could not be sought where aircraft size permits like it would with Newquay - Stansted.

Kerry-Dublin is not PSO.
It is operated on a commercial basis by Ryanair.

 

[Wilko82]

Across the water, the Irish Government awarded the Kerry - Dublin PSO to Ryanair, no idea what the commercial terms are but they operate twice daily at mostly very reasonable fares. I do wonder if the same solution could not be sought where aircraft size permits like it would with Newquay - Stansted.

As said above Kerry - Dublin is not a PSO route, also there was nothing stopping Ryanair from putting in a bid to operate the Newquay - London airports PSO route either, but the fact that they didn't speaks volumes. The route should just be scrapped now, rather than wait until the end of May as things aren't going to change especially when they insist on using an old shed of an aircraft that clearly has reliability issues. Only last night on approach to Gatwick the plane suffered a malfunction with the landing gear and had to abort the landing before circling around for half an hour while they tried to sort the issue out. I have seen comments online from someone describing it as the scariest flight she has been on.

 

[Wilko82]

Skybus ceasing to operate the route as off this week, with their last flights being this Thursday April 2nd.

Important Travel Update

We regret to advise that all Skybus flights between Cornwall Airport Newquay and London Gatwick have been cancelled.

www.skybus.co.uk

hese services were operated under a Public Service Obligation (PSO), which was originally scheduled to conclude on 31 May 2026. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, services will now cease earlier than planned. The final flights in each direction will operate on Thursday 2 April 2026.

Customers with bookings for travel throughout April and May are being contacted directly. All affected customers are entitled to a full refund, which will be processed back to the original method of payment.

We sincerely apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience this will cause and appreciate your understanding.

It appears that their leased aircraft from Malta is returning there today, as their expired today (end of March) and that they haven't been able to source another suitable aircraft to operate the service day-in, day-out. Pretty shambolic really that they have left it until now to inform passengers and to pass it off as "circumstances beyond our control". They are the operator of the service so it should be up to them to operate it.

There have also been some rumours that Skybus are in financial difficulty, with them also having issues providing Aurigny with the relevant resources (both aircraft and pilots) to operate the Alderney to Guernsey and Southampton routes. Of course Jonathan Hinkles denied this, but there's no smoke without fire.

 

[gswindale]

BBC reporting the shut down due to fuel prices

Skybus axes Newquay to London flights due to fuel costs

Skybus cancels all flights between Newquay and Gatwick, with the last flight leaving on Thursday.

www.bbc.co.uk

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.

 

[Wilko82]

BBC reporting the shut down due to fuel prices

Skybus axes Newquay to London flights due to fuel costs

Skybus cancels all flights between Newquay and Gatwick, with the last flight leaving on Thursday.

www.bbc.co.uk

The BBC are only reporting what Jonathan Hinkles from Skybus has said, and let's be realistic he is not going to say "We have stopped operating the route due to us not owning any aircraft to operate the route." Hinkles has a reputation of blaming everyone but himself.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Isn't it a breach of the PSO contract not to provide the advertised service, and therefore compensation is due?

I see that EasyJet are to provide a twice weekly summer service.

EasyJet

EasyJet has announced a new twice-weekly service between Cornwall Airport Newquay and London Gatwick, with the first flight to take off on 23 June.
Cornwall Council said it hoped the new route would "strengthen direct domestic connectivity" between Newquay and London.
Nigel Scott, commercial director for Cornwall Airport Newquay, said the new route "provides an affordable and convenient way for visitors to access the region during one of our busiest periods".
The flights will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the council said.