A UK airline has been forced to cancel its London flights due to rising fuel costs.
Skybus operates daily flights between London Gatwick and the seaside town of Newquay.
This started back in November 2025, taking on the route from Eastern Airways which went into administration last year.
The service was due to end on May 31, however it has now said it will be ending now – nearly two months earlier.
The airline’s Managing Director Jonathon Hinkles said it was for a number of reasons.
This includes the increase in fuel costs, as well as lack of passenger bookings.
Read more on cancelled flight
He explained: “At a time of great economic uncertainty and steps being taken to conserve energy worldwide, it is neither environmentally nor economically sound for us to continue flying with vastly reduced passenger numbers.”
Passengers affected will be fully refunded.
The flights between London and Cornwall take around 1hr20 and start from £79.99 each way.
This is not only faster – trains take around five hours and include a change to Newquay – but cheaper than the average train fare which is around £85.
Some passengers use it as a way of travelling further onto Europe as well.
One Brit, who was meant to fly from Newquay to Gatwick, then onto Seville told the BBC: “Gatwick is not the easiest airport to get to so our contingency is probably to use rail.”
In the mean time, Ryanair offers flights between Newquay and London Stansted all year round.
And easyJet is due to start a new flight route to Newquay from June 23, with two a week from London Gatwick on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
A Cornwall Airport Newquay spokesperson said: “We are actively working with airline partners and stakeholders to secure sustainable London connectivity for the future.”
It isn’t the only airline to warn of future flight cancellations due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has warned of travel chaos this summer if the crisis continues.
He said: “We don’t expect any disruption until early May, but if the war continues, we do run the risk of supply disruptions in Europe in May and June.”
While he said he didn’t see the airline having to cancel flights just yet, he warned that as much as 20 per cent of its jet fuel is costing them nearly $150 a barrel.
Other airlines around the world have already started cancelling flights.
Both Air New Zealand and SAS confirmed that more than 1,000 have been cancelled, mainly affecting domestic routes.
And United Airlines said five per cent of flights would be cancelled in the second and third quarters of 2026 – working out to around 250 a month.
