A route from Southampton Airport to Teesside has been scrapped, it has been confirmed.
Loganair's service between the airport and Teesside Airport will come to an end.
It comes after the airport in the North East also lost its connection to London.
The Echo understands that the route will stop as a result of the cessation of the London service as it cannot be accommodated on the remaining Loganair aircraft.
Just minutes after a statement was issued by both Teesside Airport and Loganair, ticket sales for both London Heathrow and Southampton were removed.
On the Loganair website, the schedules were updated to reflect today's sudden announcement with bookings from May 24 onwards cancelled.
A joint statement from Teesside Airport and Loganair said they will continue to work together, despite the cancellations.
“This valued partnership is set to continue, with Loganair flights taking off from Teesside to major UK cities,” the statement read.
“There has been encouraging progress as the aviation industry recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, with bookings beginning to improve once again.
“However, a recent significant increase in Heathrow’s take-off and landing fees has led to a significant increase in costs.
“This, coupled with global oil prices affecting the cost of aviation fuel, means that the London Heathrow route from Teesside has become unviable and will end in two weeks.”
It is not the first time a route to Southampton from Teesside has been scrapped with Eastern Airways last year axing the route.
That prompted Loganair to effectively take over the route as it announced the route had been "adopted" into the airline's summer schedule.
After the announcement, Kay Ryan, chief commercial officer for Loganair, laid out the refund options to affected customers as they paid tribute to years of custom.
'Extremely disappointed'
Mrs Ryan added: “I am extremely disappointed that Loganair will no longer provide a London Heathrow service due to rising costs, and completely understand the decision taken for all the reasons outlined.
“Customers affected by the cancellation will receive either an alternative routing if applicable or a refund should they prefer that option.
“Those customers who booked their Heathrow travel via one of our codeshare partners will receive any applicable alternatives direct from the airline they booked with, and not Loganair.
“We thank Teesside International airport for their support over the last 12 months, and looking forward to continuing our excellent working relationship.”
