Covid-19: Businesses 'devastated' as Cornwall Airport Newquay shuts

The aviation sector is "on the brink" according to the boss of a regional airport which has shut down temporarily due to a lack of demand.

Cornwall Airport Newquay hopes to reopen in December "for a rally of demand ahead for the Christmas period".

Managing director Pete Downes said airlines had made it "clear there is not sufficient demand to make it viable".

Cornwall Chamber of Commerce said it was "absolutely devastated".

"If we are serious about Cornwall being a 21st century business destination then we have really got have an airport just as we have to have roads and digital infrastructure like 5G and superfast broadband," its chief executive Kim Conchie said.

The airfield at Cornwall Airport Newquay will remain available for emergency flights and staff have been furloughed.

The airport is subsidised by Cornwall Council, who agreed in September that £5.6m could be diverted from its £12m funding for the Cornwall spaceport, should no other support be secured from the government.

Mr Downes said it was a "turning point for the industry" and called on the government to offer greater support to regional airports.

"The government has to decide how much of this industry it wants to have left at the end of this period," he said.

"Everybody has been surviving with drastically reduced revenues and continuing to run airports for the benefit of regional connectivity around the UK, with no sector specific support from the government.

"People have been holding on but unless some support is forthcoming over the winter we will start to lose parts of this industry. And once they are gone we will not be able to get them back."

The Department for Transport said it recognised the impact of the second lockdown on the travel industry, including regional airports, and said work was being done to "develop measures to support aviation's long-term future".

"The furlough scheme has been extended, and we're providing wider support through action on airport slots, loans and tax deferrals," a spokesman said.