Exeter Airport: 'Slow recovery after Flybe loss and Covid'

Exeter Airport only had one route to Belfast operating during some of the Covid pandemic

A Devon airport is seeing a "slow recovery" after Covid-19 and the loss of a main carrier, bosses have said.

Exeter Airport saw a drop from nearly one million passengers in 2019 to just 27,000 at the height of the pandemic.

The airport was also affected by the liquidation of airline Flybe in 2020, which had its base nearby.

Managing director Stephen Wiltshire said although the facility was still making a financial loss, there had been increases in summer passenger numbers.

Airlines 'cautious'

The airport saw only 27,000 passengers in the financial year 2020/21, but about 400,000 have taken to the skies from Exeter so far this year as the summer season draws to a close, bosses said.

Stephen Wiltshire said the airport had seen 250,000 passengers during the summer season alone, "with just over 50,000 passengers in August using the facility for the first time in three years during that period, which is great".

However, he added: "But it is a slow recovery and airlines are extremely cautious about that."

At one stage during the pandemic, the airport only had one route a week to Belfast.

It did remain open for any aviation emergencies.

As well as flight cuts because of coronavirus, the airport also suffered the loss of its biggest carrier when airline Flybe collapsed in March 2020.

The brand was later bought but is now headquartered in Birmingham and does not currently operate from Exeter Airport.

However, it does have flights to Newquay in Cornwall.