Western Morning News (Saturday)
Flights from West airport start up again after break
CORNWALL Airport Newquay reopened yesterday for flights within the United Kingdom. The airport stopped all commercial flights on November 9 and had planned to remain shut until December 9.
After a delay to the original date, flights to Heathrow, Leeds-Bradford and Manchester airports were starting again yesterday.
A statement from the airport on Twitter posted on Thursday read: “Tomorrow we reopen our doors to passengers and we’re looking forward to welcoming you back!
“If you are travelling through the airport please remember to bring a face covering and have your travel documents and ID ready for checking at the terminal entrance.”
The only airlines to use the airport for commercial flights on the reopening are British Airways and Eastern Airways.
Newquay Airport also confirmed on Twitter only travelling passengers will be allowed through the terminal doors, and only once check in for their flight opens.
It added that people dropping off or picking up passengers must remain in the car park in line with Covid-19 safety measures.
Under the current schedule, Aer Lingus, Loganair, Ryanair and Blue Islands flights to Ireland, other parts of the UK, the Channel Islands and further afield will not resume until at least March.
Neither Skybus flights to the Isles of Scilly, Eastern flights to Teesside, or flights to Copenhagen or Dusseldorf have start dates confirmed yet.
When the airport first shut in November, head of Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, Kim Conchie, lamented the decision.
Mr Conchie said the closure, which the airport blamed on government guidelines putting a strain on its profitability, would be a blow to the Cornish economy.
“When it’s open, Newquay airport is full of business people, and people from the public sector, going up to London and elsewhere,” he said in November.
“Obviously, this year has taught us we can do a lot more online, but you do need to see people in the first instance to create chemistry and trust,” he added.
“When times are tough, it’s an extra imposition not to have it open.”