Cornwall home to UK's fastest growing airport
Exceeding its previous strongest year in passenger numbers in 2008, and handling more traffic than ever before, CAN welcomed a total of 453,795 passengers in 2017.
In a monthly breakdown, the greatest number of passengers were handled in July and August when CAN welcomed a record 121,000 passengers, a significant traffic increase of 30%. The end of the year saw the Airport celebrate its best-ever December, recording an 18% year-on-year growth primarily due to the Christmas flights to/from Birmingham and a doubling of services to Manchester over the festive period.
London Gatwick remained CAN’s most-operated destination with 964 flights offering nearly 228,000 seats throughout 2017. While the 1,511-kilometre sector to Faro was the furthest point served, the Isles of Scilly was the closest destination from the Airport being just a 104-kilometre sector.
With the Airport expecting passenger traffic growth to be maintained throughout 2018, Al Titterington, Managing Director, Cornwall Airport Newquay states: “Our passenger growth remains far higher than the average with little indication of slowing down. It’s a credit to all those committed to ensure we remain a popular destination with an efficient Airport.
“One of the main focuses for the coming year is to gain a highly-desired link to London Heathrow. Following Heathrow’s recent announcement in the reduction of domestic charges this has become more achievable than ever before.
"The Government has stated its support for a third runway at LHR and we have been a longstanding supporter of Heathrow expansion. The link would be transformational for Cornwall’s economy and we are working closely with Heathrow Airport Ltd and our airline partners to try and make this happen. Such services will make Cornwall accessible on a global level, be that inbound (international) tourism or the export of goods and services, the impact would be significant. It would also provide a catalyst for discussion with potential new airlines operating from the Airport.”
Cornwall will see an enhancement to its connections to Germany this year, when Eurowings’ seasonal operation to Stuttgart joins the carrier’s already established service to Düsseldorf, and Ryanair’s link to Frankfurt Hahn. Giving the Airport a 27% increase in seats to Germany for S18, Lufthansa’s low-cost carrier will commence a weekly service to the German city on 5 May, using the airline’s A319 aircraft.
All services and destinations which operated in 2017 will operate in 2018.
