Air Southwest will cease operations at the end of September. The airline says that it hasn't been able to sell enough seats to remain financially viable.
While it was known that Air Southwest would have to stop flying to Plymouth City Airport closed in December, the abandonment of all other routes is a bitter blow to Newquay airport, where unusually Air Southwest flies year-round to five destinations.
Air Southwest has confirmed that it will stop trading in September, which is months ahead of its previous expectations. The airline has a fleet of four Dash 8 aircraft, has 150 staff and will stop Plymouth flights on 14th September with just a few flights on September 30th.
Newquay routes to Glasgow, Guernsey, Jersey and Manchester will end on 14th September, and Newquay services to Aberdeen, Bristol, Cork, Dublin and Leeds/Bradford will end on September 30.
This will be the last day of Air Southwest branded flights.
The Sutton Harbour Group, which took over Plymouth airport in 2000, launched Air Southwest in 2003, taking over routes previously flown by British Airways. The airline was sold to Humberside-based Eastern International Airways in November 2010, who promply axed all flights to London Gatwick, which was previously the mainstay of operations.
