British Airways (BA) is back on the London-Newquay route in a controversial manner - albeit Gatwick rather than Heathrow - in spite of protests by Greenpeace who used a BBC reporter to argue that Cornwall should have no air services to London at all
Flying to Cornwall from London is no more environmentally damaging than travelling by car or train, Newquay Cornwall Airport argued as the environmental group, angered at the airline”s return to the county with a Boeing 737 midday flight, succeeded in giving the airline a terrific amount of publicity.
Passengers checking in for BA's first flight from Newquay to Gatwick declined Greenpeace”s offer of a complimentary rail ticket to London. And so they might - the journey time on the new service was under one hour. Furthermore, on the morning of BA's launch, South West Trains chose to announce a 20% increase in its off peak fares. There was also the small matter that they had already paid for their BA ticket. By train the fastest journey from Newquay to Paddington is 5 hours 24 minutes including three changes.
Whilst applauding BA's enterprise, one local businessman said that what was really needed was a service into Heathrow: ”Gatwick is fine for London but it does not compare with Heathrow. When BA took over the then Brymon Airways in the early 1990s it said it would guarantee the link. It has let us down in that respect. Why not fly the 737 into Heathrow? We”ve got Air Southwest already.”
Air Southwest was created in 2003 when British Airways decided to pull out of Cornwall and Devon, inheriting its fleet of 50-seat Dash 8 turboprops. It is united with BA and Newquay Airport in fighting anti-aviation lobby groups. ”The fact is that the road and rail links west of Exeter are very poor,” said deputy chief executive Mike Coombes. ”And while travelling by rail may indeed be pretty and scenic, it is not appropriate for business travellers who need both speed and efficiency. Air links help Cornwall businesses to be competitive.”
The airline, which serves Plymouth and Newquay four times daily, boasts a strong and loyal following of business clientele. It sees BA's service, which arrives into Newquay at 1300 and departs again one and a half hours later, as fine for the burgeoning tourism the county attracts, but stresses it will continue to offer a ”high quality, high frequency and low fare service our customers have come to depend on.”
Air Southwest is looking to add more destinations from Newquay, Coombes stated. A new service to Cork that it inaugurates in May, initially for the summer, is expected to be a year round route. Cork joins established Air Southwest links to Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff and Dublin from Newquay.
Newquay Airport, which comes under the management of Cornwall County Council from 1 April this year has disclosed a wish list of new routes - to the West Midlands, Glasgow and Newcastle, plus direct European services to Amsterdam, Paris and cities in Germany. It is one of the UK's fastest growing regional airports, carrying 352,000 passengers in 2006, compared with 70,000 in 2001. Plans for a brand new terminal that will boost ”green” facilities and an infrastructure that is environmentally friendly, will enable the airport to handle up to two million passengers.
Economic Portfolio holder for the Council Andrew Mitchell challenged: ”Does Greenpeace really think that flying should be reserved for those lucky enough to live in the Home Counties or self appointed political opinion formers? If so, they are ignoring the needs of ordinary people wanting to visit Cornwall, Cornish residents wanting to go on holiday and small businesses in Cornwall struggling to provide employment.”