Today marks the last day of flying for Air Southwest, one of Newquay Cornwall Airport’s main airlines.

The airport said it had building up a strong relationship with the airline over the last eight years and shared the disappointment with the airline and its many users that operations were ending.

Al Titterington, Newquay Cornwall Airport’s managing director, said: “It is a sad day for air services to/from Cornwall with the closure of Air Southwest.

“We would like to thank passengers that have supported the airline through the last few years and assure them that we are actively seeking new and existing airline partners to operate both those services operated by Air Southwest, but also new opportunities connecting the region to the rest of the UK and Europe.”

He added that while the pairing had shared a number of successes, Air Southwest’s closure meant the airport could diversify in the number of airlines it could attract.

“Air Southwest dominated our domestic route network, meaning other carriers were restricted with the services they could offer and the demand for air services that would make them profitable out of Newquay.

"Since the announcement of the closure of the airline in mid July we have been in discussion with a number of airlines and already have announced replacement services to Manchester (Flybe) and Glasgow (Loganair) and hope to announce new destinations in the coming months for summer 2012,” added Mr Titterington.

Newquay Cornwall Airport continues to fly up to three times a day to London Gatwick, up to four times a day to Isles of Scilly and four times a week to Manchester through the winter. Summer flights are already on sale to East Midlands, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dusseldorf, as well as charter holidays to Dubrovnik, Lake Garda and Madeira.