Exeter airport had just nine passengers in May

Just 9 passengers handed by Exeter airport in May well in accordance to calamitous figures which present the depths of the journey crisis gripping Britain.

Traveller figures plunged from pretty much one hundred,000 a 12 months before, airport bosses exposed in proof to East Devon Council as they sought a bailout.

There were still 99.5pc much less readers in July than past 12 months and the airport faces a £620,000 invoice for organization rates.

East Devon Council has handed a assistance deal which will allow £180,000 of the bill to be paid out around the future three many years – the highest permitted less than EU condition aid guidelines.

The slump has been mirrored across Britain which includes at massive hub airports these types of as Heathrow, forcing airways and connected companies to lay off tens of 1000’s of employees in a battle to survive as a golden age for air journey arrived to crashing halt.

Over-all, passenger figures at UK airports could plunge by 40pc 12 months on 12 months, in accordance to Airways UK’s forecasts for the 12 months to July 2021.

Exeter suffered the double whammy when regional airline Flybe collapsed in March followed by the pandemic that grounded  planes around the globe.

It is a dramatic slide from grace following 1m passengers employed the web page in a 12-month interval for to start with time in 2019.