Regional carriers to do battle over Cornish route

Loganair, meanwhile, will launch a daily Manchester-Newquay service on 28 March next year using a 70-seat ATR72-600 aircraft.

Eastern said the move would "assist the recovery of UK regional economies" while Loganair said its move would help restore UK regional connectivity following the collapse of Flybe.

Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair chief executive, said while he was, however, disappointed the government hadn’t offered to subsidise the programme with a public service obligation nomination, Loganair would go ahead with the proposed launch as planned.

Loganair’s fares will lead in from £59.99pp one-way, and Eastern’s from £79.99pp.

Roger Hage, Eastern’s general manager commercial and operations, said: "We have carefully one-by-one added former flybe routes that we know are sustainable and where local support is positive and strong."

The addition of a Manchester-Newquay route, said Hage, would complement its existing Newquay links from Leeds Bradford and Teeside airports, adding frequency and capacity would increase "as demand dictates and especially as travel volumes return through into summer next year".

Both carriers will be hoping to capitalise on what could be another strong summer for UK domestic breaks owing to the coronavirus crisis.