Brits left ‘extraordinarily sad’ after UK airline axed flights
Skybus said it was forced to suspend flights from Exeter to the Isles of Scilly in early May after a “turbulent start” to the year in which aircraft suffered damage at Land’s End Airport during Storm Goretti in January
An airline has axed flights and caused some Brits to be disappointed (stock)(Image: d3sign via Getty Images)
Residents of the Isles of Scilly have declared they are “extremely unhappy” with the service they’re receiving from an airline connecting them to the mainland.
Skybus revealed it was compelled to halt its flights from Exeter to the Isles of Scilly in early May following a “turbulent start” to the year which saw aircraft sustain damage at Land’s End Airport during Storm Goretti in January.
The airline’s managing director Jonathan Hinkles confirmed flights were scheduled to restart on Thursday (June 4). Yet tourism and business chiefs in the Isles of Scilly have slammed the airline, which has struck a deal to operate flights to the Channel Islands.
Mr Hinkles maintained the fresh agreement would generate additional revenue and “enable further investment” to support flights to and from the Isles of Scilly.
The carrier has been hit by setbacks, including the axing of its daily Newquay to London services two months earlier than planned, reports the Mirror.
Tourism body Visit Scilly described the scrapping of the Exeter flights as “clearly very concerning”. Some detractors were pointing the finger at the arrangement with Guernsey-based carrier Aurigny which would see a Skybus aircraft deployed for flights to Alderney from Guernsey and Southampton, the BBC reports.
Tourist board chairman Andrew Sells revealed that a letter backed by 150 residents demonstrated how “let down the community feels”, amid concerns over the dependability of cargo and passenger services to the Isles of Scilly.
He explained that the island’s economy was chiefly reliant on tourism and that numerous people were “extremely unhappy”.
Council of the Isles of Scilly members slammed the airline’s poor service at the beginning of the tourist season, claiming it “undermines the ability to retain and attract new visitors” to the islands overall.
Hinkles said: “We’re on track to resume flights to and from Exeter from 4 June, as promised.”
“It is a regrettable yet unavoidable consequence of change to any airline’s schedules that customer contact teams must update customers with often-unwelcome news.
“We are hugely grateful to the dedicated teams working to keep customers informed in advance of their planned journeys.”
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