Second firm ends Cardiff flights

Air southwest flies from Cardiff to Manchester and Newquay

A second airline in two days has announced it is ending its flights from Cardiff International Airport.

Air Southwest will end daily services to Newquay and Manchester in June, after First Choice said on Tuesday they would cut their flights from Cardiff.

Air Southwest chief executive, Malcolm Naylor, said the company had "not seen the traffic we anticipated".

Peter Phillips of Cardiff airport said a replacement airline was being sought for the slot.

The Air Southwest flights, which were launched in April last year, will cease on 24 June.

Chief executive Mr Naylor said: "This is a commercial decision and one that we have taken reluctantly.

"We have enjoyed tremendous support from Cardiff International Airport and have operated the route for more than a year, but despite our combined best efforts we have not seen the traffic we anticipated."

Peter Phillips, head of marketing and communications at Cardiff airport, said he believed there was a market for the Cardiff to Manchester service because of the number of regular passengers who had used the service.

He added the airport was hopeful of finding a replacement airline to fill the Air Southwest slot within the next few weeks.

On Tuesday, airline First Choice said it would end its Cardiff flying programme from November.

A spokeswoman for First Choice said the company would try to secure work for the 51 Cardiff employees at a new base opening in Exeter from November 2007.