Second-home owners with rural retreats in mainland Europe are to become the latest victims of the economic slowdown with airlines shutting down many of their budget European routes.

The financial crisis facing the airline industry means that thousands of cheap flights to Spain, Italy and the south of France are to be axed by British Airways, easyJet and other operators.

An analysis by the Official Airline Guide (OAG), used by the travel industry, shows that budget airlines will scrap almost 60 routes this winter. There will be 3,000 fewer flights than in the same period last year.

During the cheap flight boom that began in the late 1990s, hundreds of thousands of people bought properties in Europe, spurred by the prospect of a relaxed lifestyle and cheap and easy links to home. An estimated 425,000 Britons now have a second home overseas.

Some of the most favoured locations - southern France, Italy and Andalucia - will be among the most severely hit by the cuts. Given the worsening financial situation for airlines, prompted by rising fuel prices, many fear that flights will not be reinstated next summer, meaning longer journey times and a potential slump in the value of second homes.

According to the OAG, British Airways is at the forefront of the new cutbacks after announcing a 90% fall in profits earlier this month. It is abandoning two routes, Gatwick to Nice and London City Airport to Milan, from November to April, and cutting flights from Gatwick to Bordeaux by 30%. The service from Gatwick to Alicante has been halved compared with the same period last year, while flights to Toulouse and Bologna have also been reduced significantly.

Flybe is scrapping four routes and reducing eight others including services to Brest, Faro, Alicante and Malaga. EasyJet is reducing flights to France, Spain and Italy by about 20% over the same period, while Ryanair is reducing flights from Stansted by 14%.

Those who will be hit by the loss of flights include Lynne Mott and her husband William, a lecturer at Wolverhampton University, who own a holiday home in Touffailles, southeast of Bordeaux. Bmibaby, British Airways and easyJet are all slashing flights to Bordeaux this winter.

“I feel real frustration at the airlines,” said Lynne Mott.

Airlines blame the soaring cost of fuel and the slowdown in consumer spending. Many smaller carriers face bankruptcy if the harsh economic climate continues.

Losing regular flights to Britain can play havoc with the value of second homes. According to research by Savills, the estate agent, a low-cost airline near a second home could raise prices by as much as 37%.

John Taylor, an agent who helps clients to buy properties in Gascony, southwest France, said second-home owners near smaller airports were especially vulnerable. “If you have a home near the big centres like Toulouse you should be absolutely fine. You can still commute to London from there for less than it costs to do so from Somerset,” said Taylor.

Concerns are growing about the long-term sustainability of several budget airlines. Ryanair last week announced that it may face losses of €60m (£47m) in 2009, compared with a profit of €439m last year.

From tomorrow, Ryanair will accept only bookings made on its website. The airline will refund price comparison websites for cancelled flights but it will be up to individual sites to inform and refund customers who have booked through them.

Homeowners living in areas where flights have already been cut warned that the change had brought severe difficulties.

Jo Chipchase, a mother of two and a public relations executive from Brighton, owns a villa in Lanjaron, a spa town 25 miles from Granada in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Her usual route from Gatwick to Granada with Monarch Airlines is among those that has already been cut.

“I just won’t be able to come and go so often,” said Chipchase, 36. “Granada airport was so good because it was close to my home here. Now I will have to go to Malaga’s airport, which can take us up to three hours and cost €80 to get to.”

Chipchase was so incensed by the decision to axe the route last November that she started a petition to reopen it. It has been signed by almost 1,000 British homeowners.

Airlines said it was normal practice to cut flights on underused routes. Flybe said: “Any airline would tell you that marginal routes are more difficult to manage and maintain.”

GROUNDED

Routes that face cutbacks between November this year and April next year:

Bmibaby Birmingham to Lisbon, Portugal Birmingham to Madrid, Spain Birmingham to Rome, Italy

British Airways City, London, to Milan, Italy Gatwick to Alicante, Spain Gatwick to Bologna, Italy Gatwick to Bordeaux Gatwick to Nice, France Gatwick to Toulouse, France

easyJet Bournemouth to Lyons, France Bristol to Pisa, Italy East Midlands to Rome, Italy Gatwick to Alicante, Spain Gatwick to Nice, France Liverpool to Malaga, Spain Luton to Barcelona, Spain Luton to Lisbon, Portugal Luton to Toulouse, France

Flybe Birmingham to Brest, France Exeter to Brest, France Exeter to Faro, Portugal Manchester to Brest, France Southampton to Alicante, Spain Southampton to Bergerac, France Southampton to Rennes, France

Thomsonfly Bournemouth to Alicante, Spain Cardiff to Barcelona, Spain Coventry to Barcelona, Spain Coventry to Valencia, Spain Gatwick to Lyons, France Manchester to Lisbon, Portugal

Source: the Official Airline Guide and Thomsonfly

Additional reporting: Brendan Bourne

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