NEWQUAY Airport is to shut down after council bosses failed to meet the handover deadline agreed with Ministry of Defence (MoD) chiefs, causing chaos for thousands of passengers.

On December 1, Cornwall County Council (CCC) which owns the civilian airport, was poised to take over the RAF St Mawgan site, which lies adjacent to it.

But the transition has been delayed until midnight on December 19 after CCC failed to get the necessary Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) licence because the new traffic control tower was not ready on time.

It is not the first time a planned handover has been delayed – in August the first deadline came and went.

The disruption triggered by the three-week closure will see thousands of passengers bused from Newquay to other airports in the South West, where their airline also operates from.

It is not yet clear what will happen to passengers who have booked with airlines that only fly from Newquay in the South West, such as BMI Baby.

A spokesman for the MoD last night said: "We will vacate the airfield on 1 December in accordance with our agreement with Newquay Cornwall Airport.

"We regret that we have not been able to agree to the request to extend our support to the airport – this is because the RAF personnel who are employed at the airfield are required for operational posts elsewhere."

Council chiefs blamed contractors who had fallen behind in completing the tower.

Andrew Mitchell, CCC's economy portfolio holder with responsibility for the airport, said: "I'm hugely disappointed. We have not heard the reasons why the RAF can't stay, but there is obviously some huge issue over staying.

"I can only apologise to the thousands of passengers who are now going to have to rearrange their travel arrangements while the airport is closed down and the chaos that is going to cause. I know this is massively inconvenient for them.

"There is now a huge task ahead of us discussing how to sort things out with our customers, the airlines. I've absolutely no idea how much we might have to pay in penalties to our customers."

He said he was satisfied that the council had tried its best and worked hard to meet the deadline.

"The control tower should have been finished by last week and all this week the CAA should have been in making sure that the controllers were fully familiarised with the air space and local geography.

"At the end of the week, the controllers would go through a final test to make sure everything was up to scratch.

"We realised last week that contractors working on the tower were behind schedule and that things would not be ready in time for the CAA. We would not get a licence until the CAA is totally satisfied that the controllers are fully trained up on the equipment and know what they are doing.

"Everyone involved has worked fantastically hard on this project and it's a real shame we've fallen at this last hurdle."

Chris Caines, Newquay Airport's project director, said: "Certainly all flights up to November 30 are not affected.

"If the council has to pay any extra costs over the delay, they will not be passed on to the council taxpayer."

Tim Jones, chairman of Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said the council had "set its margins too tightly".

"This would never have happened in the construction industry," he said. "On huge projects like this, you set up your contingency provision and then times it by four to allow for delays.

"If this had happened at any other time of year, the impact on tourism would have been considerable.

"Luckily it's quiet at this time of year, but if it drags on any longer into the Christmas period then it could get difficult for those wanting to come to Cornwall for Christmas and New Year."

He added that it was "a PR disaster for the county".

It is the first time in the UK that an airport has switched live from a military airport to a civilian one.

Dan Rogerson, Lib-Dem MP for North Cornwall, last night said: "The RAF's primary responsibility is defence and they have got a huge overseas commitment to deal with.

"What must be remembered is that Cornwall County Council has undertaken a huge task which has never been tried before in the UK.

"If they were experiencing problems every day with the airport, then yes questions should be asked, but in all honesty this is a very complex operation."

Mr Rogerson did not believe the set-back would affect tourism. Around 400,000 passengers use the airport every year.

Jeff Marston, chief executive of the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company, which operates Skybus, said the closure was "extremely disappointing", and added: "Customers who have already made bookings with Skybus will be contacted by the airline in due course."

Air Southwest is the largest airline operating from Newquay to London Gatwick, Manchester, Leeds Bradford, Glasgow, Newcastle, Bristol, Cork and Dublin. From December 20, it will launch new winter ski flights from Newquay and Plymouth to Grenoble in the French Alps.

Deputy chief executive Mike Coombes said: "We are implementing our contingency plans to minimise disruption to customers and will be contacting all those affected in due course."