Mystery around future of Flybe Heathrow-Newquay route as flights beyond March not on sale

No bookings for Cornwall’s link with the UK’s main hub are being taken beyond 28 March

Destination unknown: the future of the Flybe service from Newquay to Heathrow is in doubt (Simon Calder)

Mystery surrounds the future of Flybe’s link between Heathrow airport and Newquay. While the airline is selling its other routes from the Cornish airport up to the end of October 2020, its final day for sales is 28 March 2020.

The regional airline launched the route in March 2019, with four round trips a day.

The propeller link, using Q400 aircraft, replaced a three-times-daily jet connection from Gatwick to Newquay.

The 210-mile Heathrow flight has proved popular with travellers from Cornwall wanting to connect with onward departures, as well as inbound business and leisure passengers.

Newquay airport is reasonably well located for travellers from Padstow and Fowey, neither of which has a rail service.

Yet with no certainty about what flights will be on the Heathrow route in 12 weeks’ time, connection opportunities for Easter and summer holidays are being lost.

Jools Laffin, an office manager from Redruth, is a regular passenger who uses the route about eight times a year to see family in the south east, as well as for sports and music events.

She said: “We are always stuck out on a limb in Cornwall and we heavily rely on the air links.

“We’ve already had the inconvenience of the flights changed from Gatwick to Heathrow. To not be able to book a Heathrow flight beyond March is absurd and frustrating. We just can’t confirm plans.”

A spokesperson for the airport said tickets for flying from 29 March onwards are expected to go on sale some time this week.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience this delay to tickets being on sale is causing to passengers using the service but we are working with Flybe to optimise the route and ensure that Cornwall has the best available connectivity to London and beyond.”

Flybe’s spokesperson said: “We have announced the first phase of our 2020 summer schedule and are working closely with our partners across the network, including those in Cornwall, to finalise our full 2020 summer programme relating to those services which may currently not feature in this seasonal schedule.

“Details will be announced shortly.”

Take-off and landing slots at Heathrow are the most valuable of any airport in the world. In Cornwall there has been speculation that Flybe wants to move the flights to Southend, where slots are freely available, and extract more value from the slots.

But Newquay airport says the route is set to continue at four daily flights until October 2022, under what is known as a Public Service Obligation (PSO) arrangement.

“That commitment remains unchanged,” the spokesperson said.

The PSO deal as filed with the EU in 2018 mentions six possible London airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City, Luton and Southend.

A year ago the future of Flybe was in doubt, as it racked up huge debts.

On 11 January 2019, a consortium comprising Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and a US hedge fund, Cyrus Capital, bought Flybe for £2.8m.

The group has pumped in tens of millions of pounds to keep the heavily loss-making airline afloat. It is set shortly to be rebranded as Virgin Connect.