Passengers upset at imminent loss of their service

PASSENGERS on the 4.30pm flight from Plymouth to London Gatwick yesterday said they were upset the service will be axed.

They told The Herald the controversial move could affect the city’s economy.

Steve Baker, headteacher at Lipson Community College, said he has used it on ‘quite a few’ occasions. Yesterday he flew to a Microsoft sponsored schools event.

The 53-year-old said: “When I fly abroad from Gatwick I go on this flight. It saves about five hours of driving on the motorway.

“And if I have to go to a meeting in London this is a convenient service.

“It’s a body-blow for the infrastructure of Plymouth. There is a danger of Plymouth become insular.”

Andrew Rintoul, 49, from West Sussex, is a catering contractor at City College Plymouth, who uses the service once a month. He said: “I don’t know how I’m going to work around it. It’s a fast, convenient service.

“A lot of people will be very sad about this news.”

Co-owner of Jolly Jacks bistro on Mayflower Marina Sally Baum, 55, said: “A lot of our clientele are business people who commute to London. They will be upset.

“This is like saying we are not worthy of an air link to the capital city.”

Robert Mollison, 59, the chairman of a meat importing company, lives in South East Cornwall and uses the service to commute to London each week. He said the loss may mean he will have to move home.

He said: “This is a disaster. I might have to move now.

“It’s strange – it’s always full when I fly on it.

“The airport will be dead without these flights.”

Dr Ahmed Gasim, 60, is a GP in Plymouth. He regularly flies from Plymouth to Gatwick and then to the Middle East to see family. He said: “I’m upset about it. I think it’s a bad move. I don’t like the train – it takes a long time and is always late.

“The businesspeople will be gutted about this.”

Marko Hranilovic, 33, from Devonport, uses the flight every other month. He said: “To cut off the air link of a coastal city from London and a major international airport is insane and should have never been allowed to happen.”