Regional carrier Flybe has announced it will cease flying from Doncaster Sheffield airport prior to the summer 2020 season after it confirmed it is pulling its two remaining routes.
The airline – which was acquired by Connect Airways earlier this year – announced in April that it would cut eight of its ten flights from Doncaster by the end of 2019 and withdraw its two jets based at the airport.
At the time, it planned to continue services to Amsterdam and Belfast City with smaller aircraft based elsewhere, but it has now confirmed demand for the routes is not strong enough to continue operations.
In total, the move means Doncaster Sheffield airport will lose Flybe’s flights to Alicante, Amsterdam, Belfast City, Dublin, Faro, Jersey, Malaga, Newquay, Palma and Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
A spokesperson for Doncaster Sheffield airport commented: “Despite the withdrawal of these two routes we are still expecting a record year, having launched more new routes since August last year than any other UK airport.
“Flybe is currently going through a rescue strategy, making major changes to their business model to try and secure its future as part of the recent take-over. This coupled with challenges on slot availability and wider industry uncertainty has led to the removal of these routes from DSA and a number of others across UK airports.
“From a DSA perspective, the Amsterdam and Belfast routes have proved popular, with a 25 per cent increase in passenger numbers over the summer versus last year, with near full aircraft. We look forward to another strong year for Doncaster Sheffield airport, thanks to our continuing partnerships with our growing airlines Wizz Air and TUI.”
According to Alex McWhirter from BBT’s sister publication Business Traveller, there are no tickets available from Doncaster available to purchase on the Flybe website beyond 27 October, when the carrier starts its winter schedule.
Flybe told Business Traveller “a number of its least profitable routes” have been cancelled following “an exhaustive network review”.
Flybe has continued a network review since its acquisition was first proposed, which has so far seen the airline pull all of its Embraer jets from service in favour of operating its smaller Bombardier Q400s.
The carrier announced the closure of its base at Cardiff along with the Doncaster news. In addition, flights to Dusseldorf from Leeds and Southampton have been pulled, while Manchester will lose Flybe’s Toulouse and Milan services.