Flybe Ends Domestic UK Flights from Manston

UK low-fare carrier Flybe is to suspend its last remaining route from Kent’s Manston Airport at the end of the Northern 2011/2012 winter schedule as the current economic environment has made it “unsustainable” to operate. The closure of the link to Edinburgh from March 25, 2012 follows just a short time after Flybe suspended operations to Manchester from Manston.

“Our ongoing commitment to Manston has been reliant on the success of the Edinburgh service that we launched in May 2010. Despite extensive marketing of this route both in Scotland and throughout SE England, the challenging economic environment with which we are all faced has meant passenger numbers remain at unsustainable levels, and are insufficient to financially justify its continued operation,” the airline said in a statement this week.

According to official UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data, Flybe carried approximately 18,000 passengers on the Manston – Edinburgh route over the eight month period between May 2010 and December 2010. In its last update the CAA revealed that around 2,560 passengers travelled on the route in October 2011 down six per cent on the same month the previous year, continuing a downward trend.

The closure of the route will once more leave Manston without any year-round scheduled passenger routes. The airport does have a number of cargo visitors, seasonal passenger links to the Channel Islands and one-off charters to Continental Europe, and its management is working to bring a hub connection to the south eastern English facility.