News & Star | News | Business | Objectors: Carlisle airport flights plan not viable
Louise Congdon, managing partner at York Aviation, says that flights to London Southend and Dublin would not be viable, even with a subsidy.
Her letter says that a Carlisle to London journey by air would be no quicker than the train, and Southend would offer few options for onward connecting flights.
It adds: “A realistic assessment of the current market for a service [to Southend] is of the order of 10,000 passengers per annum....below any realistic threshold for service viability.” Any subsidy, she says, would have to be “significantly greater” than the £250,000 promised by Stobart.
The letter concludes: “I remain of the view that air services are unlikely to be operated or, if operated at all, not sustained for more than a year or so once it is clear they are not capable of viable operation.”