Key flights between Leeds-Bradford Airport and London are to be resumed, it was announced today.

Flybe has stepped in to replace bmi mainline which axed its daily services between Leeds-Bradford and London Heathrow at the end of last month saying they were not viable.

Flybe says it will reconnect West Yorkshire passengers with the capital – but its flights will operate to and from Gatwick airport south of London, where the airline has an executive lounge, rather than Heathrow.

The new service was being officially announced today at Leeds-Bradford by Mike Rutter, Flybe’s chief commercial officer, and Rosie Winterton, Minister for Yorkshire.

Sandy Needham, chief executive of Bradford Cham-ber of Commerce, welcomed the move, but doubted whether Gatwick would suit business flyers as much as Heathrow. Gatwick is 30 miles from central London while Heathrow is 17 miles away from the city centre.

She said: “It’s great news that regular London services are to resume but I think many business travellers will be disappointed that flights will go to Gatwick rather than Heathrow.

“There were some announcements recently that Gatwick was to be more of a focus for leisure flights rather than a business travel hub. However, I am sure that Bradford businesses will welcome the return of an airline link with the capital and international destinations.

“Not having a link between Yorkshire and London damaged the region’s credibility as a business centre and added to the burdens of local firms which require such flights.”

Earlier this year bmi said a decline in overall demand and higher-than-inflation cost increases at Heathrow meant the routes from Leeds-Bradford had become unsustainable and there were no signs of the trend being reversed.

The firm also axed flights between Heathrow and Durham Tees Valley airport.

At the time bmi managing director Peter Spencer said although the airline had “addressed to a degree” the small decline in passenger numbers, the main problem was BAA’s policy and pricing at Heathrow.

And he warned: “We see little prospect of these routes ever being able to achieve an acceptable level of profitability.”