'No plans' to resume passenger service at Carlisle airport

The last commercial flights from Carlisle were in 1993

Passenger fights from Carlisle Lake District Airport will not be available "for the foreseeable future" just one year after they resumed.

Loganair which had been operating flights to Dublin and Belfast at the airport since July 2019 said it had no plans to restart services.

Stobart Group, which owns the airport, also said that redundancies were "inevitable".

All flights were grounded in March as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

Until July 2019 there had been no passenger flights at the airport since 1993.

'Blow for area'

A statement from Stobart Group said: "Carlisle Lake District Airport (CLDA) continues to feel the impact of the global pandemic, with aviation one of the sectors hardest hit.

"This situation, which affects many regional airports across the UK, is of course deeply disappointing for all involved but as a result of this backdrop, CLDA is unable to resume passenger operations at this time."

However, bosses said they were working hard to resume general aviation, business aviation and military traffic at the site.

The statement added: "The loss of commercial operations is significant and without the associated operating income we need to review our staffing needs, which will inevitably lead to redundancies."

Councillor Gareth Ellis, deputy leader of Carlisle City Council said: "It's a blow for the area and the airport, but we need to wait and see if another outfit is willing to give it a try.

"If capacity grows there is no reason why another operator can't take it over."