Devon's London air link goes

Plymouth City Airport's last flight to London will take place today despite desperate efforts by the local Chamber of Commerce to save the four times daily operation to Gatwick by Air Southwest, now a division of Eastern Airways.  The routes to London, which at one time included both Heathrow and London City were pioneered in the early 1980s by Brymon Airways.

Members of the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce met Air Southwest bosses on Friday to try to persuade them to postpone axing the route.  However the airline said it could not keep losing money on the services, caused by high landing fees and falling passenger numbers.  An alterative of using Stansted is known to be under consideration which might entail an aircraft operating via Newquay in much the same way as the present service.  Two years back Ryanair dropped its non-stop Newquay – Stansted operation citing airport charges at the Cornish airport as the main reason. Flybe operate Newquay-Gatwick non-stop. www.airsouthwest.com

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