{"id":4279,"date":"2026-04-02T11:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/4279\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:23:09","slug":"uk-airline-grounds-all-london-flights-as-middle-east-fuel-crisis-rages-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/4279\/","title":{"rendered":"UK airline grounds all London flights as Middle East fuel crisis rages on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UK airline Skybus has been forced to cancel its flights between London Gatwick and Newquay as the fuel crisis sparked by the war in Iran continues<\/p>\n<p>10:41, 02 Apr 2026Updated 12:07, 02 Apr 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Plane\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2_Winter-weather-Feb-17th-2025.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Skybus has grounded flights (stock)\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Skybus has grounded flights (stock)(Image: PA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A UK airline has abruptly cancelled future flights due to the fuel crisis sparked by the <a aria-label=\"war in IranLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/travel\/news\/three-major-airlines-announce-middle-36952205.amp\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">war in Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">All Skybus <a aria-label=\"flightsLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/air-travel\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">flights<\/a> between <a aria-label=\"LondonLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/london\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">London<\/a> and Cornwall have been cancelled from Friday (April 3) due to the rising price of fuel and a drop in passenger numbers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Skybus has been operating daily flights between <a aria-label=\"London GatwickLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/gatwick-airport\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">London Gatwick<\/a> and the seaside town of Newquay since November 2025 under a Public Service Obligation funded by Cornwall Council and the Department for Transport, which was scheduled to end on May 31.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The airline, headquartered in the Cornish town of St Just in Penwith, began the service on November 23 with a short-term contract after the previous operators, Eastern Airways, announced it was on the brink of entering administration.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image captured in August 2024 of Isles of Scilly Travel's Skybus passenger aircraft.\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1_GettyImages-2167830904.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"The London-Cornwall route was provided by Skybus under a Passenger Service Obligation contract jointly funded by the government and the council\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The London-Cornwall route was provided by Skybus under a Passenger Service Obligation contract jointly funded by the government and the council(Image: Aerial Essex\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36959329\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/met-office-snow-storm-dave-36959329\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Met Office names Storm Dave with Easter snow warning as 7 places face 8 inches<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36956943\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/solingen-knife-attack-germany-police-36956943\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Solingen &#8216;stabbing attack&#8217; with &#8216;multiple casualties&#8217; as bloody knife spotted<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Skybus managing director Jonathan Hinkles said: &#8220;The huge rise in the global cost of fuel following the conflict in the Gulf, coupled with a significant drop in new passenger bookings since mid-February\u2019s announcement of the planned closure of the PSO air route, forms an insurmountable barrier to the service continuing through April and May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;At a time of great economic uncertainty and steps being taken to conserve energy worldwide, it is neither environmentally nor economically sound for us to continue flying with vastly reduced passenger numbers.&#8221; He thanked passengers, local stakeholders and the Skybus team for their support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Skybus said in an earlier statement it had advised Cornwall Council that its last services will take place on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The airline said passengers due to fly on cancelled services would be fully refunded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Flights between London and Cornwall take around 1 hour 20 minutes and start from \u00a379.99 each way. Trains take around five hours and require a change at Newquay and cost about \u00a385 a fare on average.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It comes after <a aria-label=\"the United Arab Emirates barred Iranians from enteringLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/airline-emirates-says-iranian-nationals-barred-entering-or-transiting-uae-2026-04-01\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">the United Arab Emirates barred Iranians from entering<\/a> or transiting through the country. Emirates, Etihad and FlyDubai made the announcement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Flights have been disrupted across the Middle East after <a aria-label=\"Iran targeted Gulf countriesLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/oil-tanker-ablaze-after-projectile-36946373\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Iran targeted Gulf countries<\/a> in retaliation for joint <a aria-label=\"US-Israeli strikesLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/breaking-trump-issues-chilling-desalination-36930988\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">US-Israeli strikes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK airline Skybus has been forced to cancel its flights between London Gatwick and Newquay as the fuel&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2526,345,2527,2525,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-4279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-air-travel","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-cornwall","11":"tag-gatwick-airport","12":"tag-london"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116334860846164357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}