Plans to secure year-round Newquay to London flights contract
Bosses say they hope to reinstate the scheduled PSO service again later this year
Last updated 13th Apr 2021
It has been revealed that there are plans in place to reinstate the year-round flight service contract between Cornwall and London.
Cornwall Airport Newquay is scheduled to reopen at the end of April.
As part of its summer schedule it will be running flights to and from London Heathrow.
But according to the BBC, the deadline to award the four-year public service obligation (PSO) contract for the route has passed.
A PSO means the government has a commitment to provide regional air links to London.
The Cornwall to London route was taken over by British Airways when Flybe collapsed last year.
At the moment flights are only scheduled up until the end of September.
Cornwall Council, which owns Cornwall Airport Newquay, says it is working with the Department for Transport and expects to reinstate the PSO service later in the year.
"Due to the travel restrictions in place because of Covid and reduced demand for air travel, Cornwall Airport Newquay closed for commercial passenger flights on January 4th, 2021. It is anticipated that the airport will reopen for passenger flights on April 30th.
"This will see a phased reintroduction of services with routes already planned/confirmed to the following destinations: London Heathrow (British Airways), Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Teesside and Aberdeen (Loganair), Manchester and Glasgow (easyJet), Leeds-Bradford and Teesside (Eastern Airways), Faro and Alicante (Ryanair), Dublin and Cork (Aer Lingus), Dusseldorf (Eurowings), Zurich (Edelweiss), Jersey and Guernsey (Blue Islands), and Isles of Scilly (Skybus).
"Further details of these flights can be found at cornwallairportnewquay.com____.
"In terms of services to London, British Airways will again be operating a Heathrow service over the summer. To find out further details of these flights and to book seats go to britishairways.com____.
"We are working in partnership with the Department for Transport and expect to reinstate a scheduled PSO service to London later in the year."
Cornwall Council