Jersey-based airline Blue Islands Ltd has scrapped flights between Exeter and Manchester less than 18 months after they began.
The company blamed the slow recovery of domestic UK air travel following the Covid pandemic and its restrictions on flying. It is continuing to operate flights from Exeter to Jersey, however.
Exeter Airport bosses are now looking for another operator to take on the Exeter to Manchester route and said they are already in talks.
A spokesperson for Blue Islands said: “Launching any new services at this time is naturally challenging. In the particular case of the Exeter-Manchester route, the recovery of this UK domestic market remains slow. Blue Islands remains focused on providing connectivity between Exeter and Jersey – a key service on our regional network.”
A spokesperson for Exeter Airport said: “The airport is in dialogue with other operators about taking on the Manchester link.”
Exeter Airport pointed out that it still stages flights to 28 other destinations including in Cyprus, France, Greece, Lapland, Spain, Turkey, and to the USA and Canada via Dublin with Air Lingus from April 2022.
Passengers can book a flight from Exeter to New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington or Toronto, and closer to home Exeter is connected to other cities in the UK such as Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Blue Island began its flights between Exeter and Manchester in September 2020. It started with a three-day-a-week link but had planned to expand that.
Services to Manchester and Jersey had been core to Exeter Airport over a number of years until the collapse of operator Flybe in March 2020.
At their pre-Covid peak, the routes attracted thousands of regular leisure and business travellers from across the South West. About 120,000 passengers flew between Exeter and Manchester in 2019.
The return of Manchester flights was hailed as key to reviving regional air connectivity after the collapse of Flybe led to the loss of key domestic and European routes along with about 1,000 jobs.
In February, Exeter Airport started a recruitment campaign as it bounced back from the Covid crisis. The company created 30 jobs and as it gears up for the holiday season, to add to a current staffing total of about 240 personnel.
Like many regional airports, Exeter’s was badly affected by lockdowns and travel restrictions. In September 2020, East Devon District Council approved a £1m bailout to stave off a “worst case scenario” of closure. Accounts for Exeter and Devon Airport Ltd for the year to March 31, 2021, showed a 73% fall in turnover, down from £24.2m to £6.4m, leading to an operating loss of £3.3m - a huge 531% increase on the £528,000 loss made in the previous, non-Covid, year. Passenger numbers plummeted to 27,000 from 953,000 and the 21,000 flights were fewer than half the number in 2019/20 (43,000).
