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Doubts raised over London-Cornwall air link

Efforts to provide a subsidised contract for year-round flights between London and Newquay have failed.

The deadline to award the four-year public service obligation (PSO) contract has passed with no award.

Cornwall Council said it was working with the Department for Transport and “expects to reinstate a scheduled PSO service to London later in the year”.

The PSO is subsidised by the government and was previously operated by Flybe until the regional carrier failed in March 2020

The route was then taken on by British Airways for seven months from last summer.

Cornwall airport Newquay hopes to reopen for passenger flights on April 30 after closure during the pandemic.

Its summer schedules show Manchester as the most popular destination with 13 weekly services.

Cornwall Council said the airport would be running services to a number of destinations this summer, including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Glasgow, Faro, Dublin, Zurich and the Isles of Scilly.

“We are working in partnership with the Department for Transport and expect to reinstate a scheduled PSO service to London later in the year,” it added.

Visit Cornwall chief executive Malcolm Bell, from Visit Cornwall told the BBC that “it is vital we have regular flights to and from London, especially as we expect to see a growth of international tourism following the exposure from the G7 summit.”

He added: “This is why we hope we will see an announcement on the PSO route soon.”

The DfT said the PSO contract was a matter for Cornwall Council, which owns the airport.

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