Member Article

Leeds Bradford to Heathrow route restored

British Airways is set to restore its Leeds Bradford to Heathrow route, after the acquisition of BMI permitted the airline to use the extra landing slots at Britain’s busiest airport.

The Financial Times reported that the four times a week service will allow customers to connect to Europe, Asia and the USA and follows heavy lobbying from Yorkshire businesses.

Until the link was re-launched, Manchester and Newcastle were the nearest airports with links to Heathrow.

Andy Lord, BA director of operations, said: “This is a welcome return to Yorkshire for British Airways and we are very excited about flying from this excellent, commercially important airport once again.

“BMI’s integration into British Airways is enabling us to grow our network as we promised, giving customers more flights to destinations we know they want to fly to.

“Leeds Bradford has a significant catchment area and we are delighted to offer not only direct flights to London but a well timed schedule that will allow customers from this region to connect with our extensive short haul and long-haul flights from Heathrow.”

It is hoped that the link will boost Heathrow’s role as a hub airport, fighting off competition from KLM, who have recently increased services to Amsterdam to four times a day.

John Parkin, chief executive of Leeds Bradford Airport, added: “This important new service to Heathrow connects Yorkshire with the world.

“It provides our businesses with the access they need to emerging and established global markets, and enables those markets to easily come to Yorkshire, bringing their investment and inbound tourism direct into our region.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .