VLM's London-Liverpool Under Threat

MERSEYSIDE'S business community was last night warned that Liverpool's direct air link to London could be abandoned unless more people use it.

City council leader Warren Bradley pleaded to business leaders to back the link, as Belgian airline VLM revealed it was closing its office base at Liverpool John Lennon Airport and switching staff to Manchester Airport.

While VLM has cut losses on its Liverpool to London City link by reducing the service to two flights a day, it is planning to increase the number of flights from Manchester to as many as 12 a day.

Last night, VLM insisted that the Liverpool service was not at risk of closure, but the company added its voice to the call for support from the business community.

Cllr Bradley warned that Liverpool could miss out in the future if the service was not better used.

The Belgian airline, which originally ran the service five times a day, reduced its operation to two flights a day last month.

Cllr Bradley believes that the air link must be sustained if the city is to prosper.

He said: "Liverpool's GVA (the measure of the local economy) is outstripping every other North West area and we are powering ahead economically.

"It is vital Liverpool has a direct air link to and from London if we are to attract more jobs and investment. We want to sell our city to the world, a truly international place once again, looking outwards, and a well-used link to our own capital city is a must."

He added: "Afast commuter route to the heart of London is incredibly valuable and also makes it easy for business people and tourists to travel to and from Liverpool.

"I urge business leaders to support VLM instead of alternative train services. We spent a long time campaigning for this link and VLM showed confidence in this city by launching the service. It is essential we repay their faith by making the most of it."

The fight to set up the London air link was spearheaded by the Daily Post's successful Fight for a Flight Campaign.

Cllr Bradley further believes that the significance of the Liverpool/London air link will be realised during the next 18 months as the city continues to celebrate its 800th birthday and welcomes Europe to Capital of Culture events in 2008.

Chief executive of BusinessLiverpool, Mike Taylor, added his weight to the increasing importance of the air link.

He said: "While at this moment the existing VLM service may well be viewed by the airline as uneconomic, we have some major drivers about to come on stream in Liverpool, which will add significant demand to the London/Liverpool service.

"I believe we should all be working more closely with VLM to ensure that this additional demand is understood, evaluated and anticipated so that a long-term, sustainable, high-frequency service can be secured."

The Mersey Partnership, which lobbied for the launch of the VLM service, has also backed the "Use it, or Lose It" plea.

TMP chairman Roy Morris said: "This route is clearly under threat, as we have stated a number of times in recent months each time the timetable is reduced.

"The city council is right to renew our warnings over the future of the route. We believe there are more passengers using the flights on the revised timetable and that has to be an encouraging sign. We're constantly reminding our 440 private and public sector members that the route is under threat."

A spokesman for VLM said: "If we were not committed to the Liverpool route we would have pulled out when the decision was taken to reduce the flights.

"We think the business community in Liverpool should encourage their opposites in London to use the service. It has made sense to move the office to Manchester rather than face the cost of two separate bases. The plane used for the Liverpool flight is now based at Antwerp, and we are flying from there to London City and on to Liverpool.

"At one time our service from London to Antwerp was at risk of closing and we reduced it to two flights a day, and now it is up to five a day."

OPINION: PAGE 12

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