Flights to capital pulled
SERVICES between London Heathrow and Leeds Bradford International Airport operated by bmi are to end.
Leeds Bradford’s chief executive John Parkin said although disappointing it was hoped a replacement service to the London airport would be found.
The service to the capital, which has run since 1969, will stop on March 28.
It means the airport will be without a direct flight to the capital and has put 33 positions at risk.
How big a blow is the cancellation of the bmi service to London Heathrow for Yorkshire? Let us know your thoughts below.
Mr Parkin said: “This announcement by bmi mainline is of course disappointing news. We are well aware of the importance to our region of regular air links to London and we expect to be in a position to announce new services to the capital shortly.”
bmi said it had carried 62,000 passengers during 2008 on its four times daily service from Leeds Bradford to London Heathrow but had reduced capacity in recent months in response to the economic downturn.
It said the decision to withdraw services between London and Leeds Bradford “was a tough one, as we have operated these routes since 1969”.
But it said a decline in demand, higher-than-inflation cost increases at Heathrow and higher Government Air Passenger Duty (APD) charges had made operating the route unsustainable.
Mr Parkin added that the announcement would not affect bmi’s regional base at Leeds Bradford which offers 46 flights a week to Brussels, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“Plans to expand bmi regional with new routes from LBIA are well advanced and continuing,” he added.
Peter Spencer, bmi’s managing director, said: “There has been a small decline in the overall air market and whilst we have been able to address this to a degree with the introduction of smaller capacity aircraft and fewer flights, unless BAA, which owns and runs Heathrow services, reverses its policy and pricing, we see little prospect of these routes ever being able to achieve an acceptable level of profitability.”
Mr Spencer added that BAA’s cost increases had been “inflation busting”.
How big a blow is the cancellation of the bmi service to London Heathrow for Yorkshire? Let us know your thoughts below.
