Exeter airport had just nine passengers in May

Just 9 travellers handed by way of Exeter airport in May possibly according to calamitous figures which present the depths of the vacation disaster gripping Britain.

Traveller figures plunged from pretty much a hundred,000 a calendar year earlier, airport bosses revealed in proof to East Devon Council as they sought a bailout.

There were still 99.5pc less site visitors in July than final calendar year and the airport faces a £620,000 monthly bill for company rates.

East Devon Council has handed a help deal which will allow £180,000 of the bill to be compensated about the upcoming 3 decades – the greatest allowed less than EU condition support principles.

The slump has been mirrored across Britain together with at substantial hub airports these types of as Heathrow, forcing airlines and linked corporations to lay off tens of thousands of employees in a fight to survive as a golden age for air vacation came to crashing halt.

General, passenger figures at UK airports could plunge by 40pc calendar year on calendar year, according to Airlines 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 throughout the world.

It is a remarkable slide from grace after 1m travellers utilized the internet site in a 12-thirty day period interval for 1st time in 2019.