Cityjet is to drop its route between London City and Cork on June 26.
The service was launched in October last year (see news July 2015), with 18 flights per week.
But the carrier’s executive chairman Pat Byrne admitted that “In contrast to what we believed to be well-founded optimism when we launched this route last year, we are faced with the reality that demand for this service has simply not taken hold in terms of sustainable commercial viability”.
Byrne also said that “Unfortunately, with the route now in its eighth month of operation, we have been unable to achieve our passenger load factor and average fare targets”.
“Consequently, our 36 weekly flights failed to gain a market foothold sufficiently to ensure a continuity of this service.”
Byrne said that while LCY presented “significant convenience” due to its “close proximity to the City of London and indeed the West End”, this convenience came at a cost, as “London City is probably one of the more expensive airports in Europe for airlines from an operational standpoint”.
Last week Willie Walsh, CEO of the International Airlines Group – the parent company of British Airways, warned London City that BA would consider moving away from the airport should its new owners raise landing charges (see news May 5).
cityjet.com, londoncityairport.com
Mark Caswell
