What are your rights as Eastern Airways ceases operations? Simon Calder explains

Eastern Airways: What are my passenger rights as airline stops flying? Simon Calder explainsSimon Calder/PA b-roll

Transcript

00:00I am at Gatwick Airport where you will look in vain for the scheduled flights between here and Newquay in Cornwall.

00:09They were supposed to be operated by Eastern Airways, but that carrier has shut down all its operations.

00:17It's returned its leased aircraft to the companies that own them and it's stopped selling tickets.

00:23So I think we can safely conclude that very sadly another British regional airline has failed.

00:32It's not clear at all yet who will pick up the Gatwick to Newquay route, but that I am pretty sure is going to be back sooner rather than later.

00:44That's because it's a so-called public service obligation route where the government will actually pay money for the flights to operate.

00:54And furthermore, you don't even pay air passenger duty on them.

00:58There will be people lining up to run services between Cornwall and London Gatwick.

01:06But the other routes operated by Eastern Airways look a little bit trickier.

01:12They go to and from Aberdeen in north-east Scotland and they're mainly to do with the oil industry.

01:19There's one to Humberside, another to Teesside.

01:23The third route is just a short hop, half an hour or so, across to Wick, which saves a five-hour drive.

01:32What are your options if you're a passenger?

01:34Well, for the first couple of days after the news came out, you could travel for free,

01:38either as a member of Eastern Airways staff or as a passenger with proof of a ticket booked,

01:46on rail operators, which was quite remarkable.

01:50GWR from Cornwall to London and some combination of Scott Rail, LNER, Transpennine Express and Northern to cover the other routes.

02:00Longer term, it's difficult to see that there will be a great deal of interest in picking up the new routes.

02:07And that's going to be very serious indeed for Humberside Airport, which has a link to Amsterdam, but relatively little else.

02:16It's also going to be worrying for Teesside Airport.

02:20Wick, I think, may possibly get the link restored to Aberdeen because that's another public service obligation flight.

02:29If, like me, you have got a flight booked, it's generally a simple matter of talking to your bank,

02:35if you paid with a credit or debit card, and they should refund the money.

02:40If you booked through a travel agent, you will need to talk to them.

02:44So, after BMI Regional, after Flybe went bust not once but twice,

02:51it is clear that regional aviation in the UK is very tricky.

02:56All kinds of problems, it's expensive, air passenger duty is charged,

03:02and furthermore, as soon as you develop a route and it gets really popular,

03:07then EasyJet or Ryanair or someone else will move in.

03:11And talking of which, the fact that we've sadly lost another airline

03:15does not indicate that there is anything bad with the aviation industry in general in the UK.

03:22We are very lucky to have fantastic airlines in the shape of people like EasyJet, Jet2,

03:28Ryanair have their main base of operations here, even though they're an Irish airline,

03:34and, of course, Loganair, the airline of Scotland.

03:38So, my sympathy for the excellent pilots, cabin crew, engineers,

03:44everyone else who kept Eastern Airways going, I hope that they will be back in work soon.