Cornwall Council’s leading member for transport says he is confident that the government will continue to subsidise the air route between Newquay and London.

The service, which is currently operated to Gatwick by FlyBe, is subject to a Public Service Obligation (PSO) which protects it and provides a government subsidy to keep it going.

That agreement was secured in 2014 when the route was at risk and Cornwall Council asked for support to keep it going.

However the agreement runs out in October and the council is now looking to secure government support to keep it running.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has already indicated that it will honour the PSO but it is subject to it approving the council’s preferred bidder to operate the service.

Cornwall Council has selected the operator it wants to run the flights, which has not been revealed, but will have to wait until September to get full approval from the DfT which has to assess the bidder for quality and value for money purposes.

The London route currently accounts for 40% of all passengers using Cornwall Airport Newquay. In 2016 the airport was used by 369,000 passengers with 149,000 using the FlyBe service to Gatwick.

A report which went to Cabinet today stated that if the route was lost then it could cost Cornwall’s economy £50million through the loss of employment alone.

Councillor Geoff Brown, Cabinet member for transport, told the meeting this morning that he was “confident” the DfT would approve the agreement.

He said this was especially after he spoke with transport secretary Chris Grayling during his recent visit to Cornwall when he praised the airport and suggested there could be a future link to Heathrow.

Mr Brown told councillors that the PSO which the council currently has is the only one of its kind in the country and he paid tribute to those who had secured it in 2014 and had worked to get it renewed now.

Julian German, Cabinet member for resources, added: “This is one of our council’s priorities in connecting Cornwall. The airport and the link to London plays an important role to our residents in a tourism sense and for broader economic activity in Cornwall.”

There were concerns raised by some councillors about whether the route would continue between Newquay and Gatwick. Under the PSO a service has to be provided to a London airport so could go to Luton, Stansted, Southend or London City airports.

Council leader Adam Paynter said similar concerns had been raised when the original PSO was agreed in 2014.

Nigel Blackler, who has been leading the project and was involved with the original PSO, said the council had stated in its negotiations that it wanted to secure the best links to London from Newquay.

The Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to senior officers and councillors to award the contract to the preferred operator should the DfT give approval.