LONDON – On November 18, the United Kingdom’s largest regional airline, Loganair, announced that they will be relaunching their Newquay services earlier than expected in 2023.
Newquay Relaunch
Back in August, Loganair released a statement advising that they were suspending their Newquay winter services for this years winter season. This equated to a suspension of nearly 300 flights in the course of five months from November 2022 through till late-March 2023.
The main reason for this suspension at the time was what Loganair had said was due to decisions that were led by Newquay Airports management to “incentivise unsustainable operations”. This has led to passengers who wish to to fly with Loganair from Cornwall will need to travel to either Exeter, Cardiff or Southampton in order to fly with Loganair during the winter season.
At the time of this announcement, a spokesperson for Loganair had said, “It’s with a heavy heart that we’ve taken the decision to withdraw our entire 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.”
Now fast-forward three months, Loganair has today announced that their restart of Newquay services has been brought forward from March 26, 2023 to now February 10, 2023. This is thanks to a large increase in demand on their Newquay to Manchester service.
The Newquay to Manchester service will be the only route that Loganair will operate from February 10, with Edinburgh and Newcastle services recommencing from March 26. The Newquay to Manchester service will be operated on a daily basis and is expected to be operated by either Loganair’s ATR or Embraer aircraft.
Loganair currently has 15 ATR aircraft in its fleet, which is broken down as, five ATR 42-500’s with 48 seats, two ATR 42-600’s also with 48 seats, four ATR 72-600’s with 72 seats and four ATR 72-500 Freighters.
For their Embraer fleet, they operate a total of 13 Embraer ERJ-145’s, all with a seating configuration of 49 all-economy class seats. Loganair had also recently announced the purchase of eight ATR aircraft to replace their old Saab 340 fleet.
Loganair senior comments
Loganair Chief Commercial Officer, Luke Lovegrove, has said, “We’re very pleased to announce the early recommencement of our Newquay – Manchester route benefiting those with February half term travel plans. We continue to work closely with the teams at both airports and are keen to maximise the potential of this route in line with our continued commitment to UK regional connectivity.”
Cornwall Airport Newquay’s Head of Commercial, Amy Smith, also added, “It is fantastic that Loganair has decided to return to Cornwall Airport earlier than expected. Cornwall is more than a summer destination and this February start, is a result of the demand the airline is seeing, is a good indication of that.”
“We’re anticipating continued strong growth in passenger numbers next year and are very pleased that Loganair will play a key part in that as one of our valued airline partners.”
Overall
This is certainly an interesting move from Loganair on restarting their Newquay services more than one month earlier than expected. Maybe this is a sign that their comments regarding Newquay airport’s management decisions have made a positive impact where changes are being made for the better.
