Basically, the professionalism and courteousness which we should have expected from the company was totally absent

Paul Coffey, ScotAirways passenger

"I understand that the cabin crew had been informed a matter of days before they told me," said Mr Coffey, who has been using the service each week for a year.

The cabin crew and pilots will now be transferred to Edinburgh where they will help run ScotAirways 10 flights a day service from the Scottish capital to the City of London Airport.

Mr Coffey told BBC News Online Scotland: "When I phoned the company's head office in Cambridge, I was told by someone in their marketing department that the reason for closing the route was due to a downturn in business.

"For me the convenience of the flights were great. I could get into Glasgow Airport within 10 minutes and I was at Canary Wharf in no time.

'Friendly staff'

"I, and other passengers, aren't happy that there was no attempt by the company to let us know the flights were ending. I wasn't very happy either with the arrogant attitude I encountered from the company as a regular user of the service.

ScotAirways will continue its Edinburgh flights to London

"I was also unhappy that the professional and friendly staff on the flight were given short notice of the changes to the way they work.

"Basically, the professionalism and courteousness which we should have expected from the company was totally absent."

Mr Coffey said he would have no real option but to travel to Edinburgh for the ScotAirways flight to the City of London Airport.

A spokeswoman from ScotAirways confirmed the service would be ending on Sunday, but made no further comment.

The company used to be called Suckling Airways but when it was taken over by Scotland-based Stagecoach in 1999 it changed its name to ScotAirways.

'Avoid the crowds'

Some �5m was ploughed into the venture.

At the ScotAirways launch, Stagecoach founder, Brian Souter, said the airline "heralds a new era for business travellers flying in and out of Scotland".

He added that the city-to-city flights helped regular travellers "avoid the crowds and congestion which have become the norm with traditional airlines".

Just weeks after the terrorist attacks on America, ScotAirways announced it was to ground flights from the Scottish Highlands to Amsterdam.

It explained that demand from the American market had fallen sharply because of the September 11 incident and had had a knock-on effect throughout the world.

The company still runs flights into London from Dundee and Edinburgh.