Cornwall Airport Newquay has seen its annual passenger numbers increase by a huge 138%, suggesting that it is on track for a "full recovery" following the pandemic.
The Newquay-based airport welcomed just over 250,000 passengers by the end of 2022, which was close to 150,000 more than the previous year.
With a predicted passenger traffic forecast of 450,000 this year the South West airport expects to see its highest-ever number of weekly passenger travel through its terminal this summer, which would be a 40% growth on pre-pandemic figures.
The Cornish gateway has credited the surge of passengers to the addition of several new services announced so far for 2023. Not only will the airport increase its choice for customers but it will welcome new links to Belfast City, Copenhagen, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, London Stanstead and Malaga.
Amy Smith, Head of Commercial, Cornwall Airport Newquay says: “2022 was a fantastic year for us, seeing the airport return to a busy schedule of 115 weekly flights at the peak of the summer season, but this year is when we expect to see close to our record year in 2019 with a predicted 78% increase in passenger traffic.”
One important development for the airport this year was when Aer Lingus Regional, exclusively operated by Emerald Airlines, increased the frequency of its Dublin service to daily yesterday. Thus allowing for an extensive selection of onward connections via the carrier's transatlantic network.
Passengers from Cornwall will now have one-stop links to destinations in North America, including globally important places such as New York, Boston, Chicago, and Toronto. Utilising the US Immigration pre-clearance in Dublin, passengers will be guaranteed a hassle-free arrival stateside. In addition, Aer Lingus Regional will connect Newquay with Belfast City, four times weekly, from 3 April.
Smith added: “Having concentrated on ensuring our customers have not only a choice of different destinations but also a variety of airlines on certain routes, we’re pleased to be able to offer a selection of services as we see multiple airlines recognise the demand from our catchment.”
It is also worth noting that established airlines are in full support for the recovery of Cornish tourism with Ryanair adding four new links to Dublin, Edinburgh, London Stanstead, Malaga, marking almost a 60% expansion in services and operating over 25 weekly flights.
In addition, Eastern Airways has launched a daily connection to East Midlands while also expanding its flying programme from NQY to London Gatwick and Humberside following rising demand.
Later in the summer season, the airport will welcome the return of SAS’ service to Copenhagen. Expanding NQY’s international route map, the Scandinavian connection will join Alicante, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Faro, Malaga, and Zurich.
In February Loganair started its Cornwall and Manchester route a month earlier than planned to meet demand.
This winter, rival airline Flybe had been running its own flight from Newquay to Manchester but that came to an end when Flybe collapsed into administration on January 28.
Loganair restarted its own Manchester route, marking the return of a daily service on February 10.
Luke Lovegrove, chief commercial officer at Loganair said: “It’s great to be back at Cornwall Airport Newquay and to be able to offer our customers increased choice and year-round service.
“Customer demand for Summer 2023 has been encouraging – so much so that we took the decision to bring forward the relaunch of our Manchester to Newquay service to today in time for half-term."
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