Newquay Airport could lose its flights to Gatwick if Plymouth Airport is closed and not replaced.

That is the warning from Sutton Harbour Holdings, the company which runs the airport at Plymouth.

Executives wants to close terminals there and at Exeter, and instead create a new one in the South Hams.

It claims there would be insufficient demand without passengers from Plymouth to make the Newquay to Gatwick route profitable.

Radical plan

Newquay Airport Committee will consider the Sutton Harbour report on Wednesday with the company urging the committee to back the plan.

"Our research has shown that our proposal for a new Devon airport near Plymouth would have substantial potential benefits for Newquay Airport," said a spokesman for Sutton Harbour Holdings.

The company believes a new airport in south Devon, taking larger aircraft, could mean more flights to Newquay.

"We would expect to see scheduled services from Plymouth to UK and European destinations like Manchester, Gatwick, Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels routed via Newquay," he said.

"In the long term, if the airport were to close and not be replaced this would have a huge negative impact on the local economy and would result in the loss of the region's only link to Gatwick Airport."

But Devon County Council, which owns Exeter airport, has already dismissed the proposals as "utter fantasy".