The Welsh Government has announced that flights between Cardiff and Anglesey will not resume after a two-year suspension, having invested some £8.4 million on subsidising the service since 2016. The service, which has run since 2007, and operated via a public service obligation, has been suspended since March 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic; it was operated by Eastern Airways and on peak weeks ran 10 services between Monday and Friday.

As it made the announcement, a Welsh government spokesman said 77% of the people who had been travelling on the air link service used it for work purposes but changes in home-working patterns have now shifted such arrangements. An independent study commissioned by the Welsh Government into the carbon impact of the service showed the flights had a more negative impact on the environment than any other form of travel between Anglesey and Cardiff unless it was flying close to full capacity every day.

The Welsh government said: “Despite common perceptions, the air service was not always the fastest link to Cardiff from north Wales — and especially east of Bangor where rail travel is faster door-to-door. Investment in new rail carriages — with wi-fi, comfortable workspaces, and onboard catering — means that the Holyhead to Cardiff rail service now offers a much more attractive proposition for those who still need to travel on business between the north and the south.”

Deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters, who has responsibility for transport, said: “The pandemic has driven huge change to the way people work, with a reduction in business travel over the past few years. We don’t think passenger levels will return to a level that makes this [air] service viable — economically or environmentally. Instead, we will invest the money saved from running the service into improving public transport in north Wales. This will benefit more people and help us reach our ‘net zero’ target by 2050.”