Eastern Airways wins tender to fly from London to Newquay

After a convoluted and drawn out bidding process, Eastern Airways has won the tender to run subsidised flights from London Gatwick to Cornwall Airport Newquay.

British Airways operates a Summer service from Heathrow to Newquay, but the local authority was willing to offer financial support to an airline which would operate year-round from London.

Flybe operated a Heathrow to Newquay service on similar terms and British Airways stepped in for a short period after Flybe went into receivership.

The service will start in December. There will initially be one flight per day, increasing to two per day in February and three per day in Summer 2022.

It will use a 72-seat ATR72 turboprop aircraft. Whilst this will result in a slower flight than using a jet aircraft, the smaller capacity should ensure that the route is viable even in the quiet Winter months.

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