There will be 40,000 fewer seats on London routes this summer, TravelWatch have said at their latest meeting.
The issue was raised at the group’s spring public meeting on Thursday.
TravelWatch issued a statement after the meeting which said that the reduction was due to a combination of the loss of Flybe’s Stansted service and the planned reduction of Easyjet flights from Gatwick on peak summer Saturdays and some peak summer midweek days.
Flybe only launched the Stansted route in March 2015 with the service being cancelled in March 2016.
Easyjet have cut back on their service between the island and Gatwick, with only one flight a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from the end of June through to September.
Mike Bathgate, TravelWatch treasurer, said: ‘The 40,000 reduction is seats in both directions, between April and September. And that takes into account British Airways increased services to London City
‘It is down to Flybe stopping the Stansted route and Easyjet cutting back in their Gatwick flights.
‘The primary concern is the hospitality industry – the reductions is in the peak time during the summer.
‘We did ask Easyjet if they’d reconsider the decision. We are an island, very different from somewhere in the UK.
‘If they cut flights from London to Bristol or other places like that people can always drive or get the train there instead, but for us it’s a lifeline route. We had been hoping to convince them we were a special case.
‘But the response we got was very neutral and very vague. In a way, we’d have preferred them to say they are using the aircraft in better ways, on more profitable routes. They have found a better use for the aircraft and they have shareholders to answer.’