A major airline has pulled out of Leeds Bradford International airport putting 59 jobs in jeopardy and affecting six routes.

British Airways announced its decision to pull out of Leeds Bradford International airport on Tuesday.

It has transferred 12 of its 29-seater Jetstream 41 aircraft to Humberside based Eastern Airways, which has pledged to continue some of the routes from the Yeadon airport.

Richard Lake, Eastern Airways managing director, said: "We look forward to finalising the deal and serving passengers on six new routes as well as using all of the 12 additional Jetstream41 to help support our growing network."

Darren Roberts, of British Airways, said the decision to transfer the aircraft was to rationalise the fleet to make the business more effective.

"The aircraft operating out of Leeds Bradford airport are Jetstream41 and will now no longer be part of our fleet, but will belong to Eastern Airways," he said.

""he decision has not been taken lightly, it was a very tough decision and was about making the business more efficient.

"The closure will effect 59 people, including pilots, cabin crew and engine staff. We are talking with employee representatives about opportunities for them to transfer to Eastern Airways or be re-deployed within British Airways. We are hopeful that few jobs, if any, will be lost."

British Airways ran services to Dublin, Gatwick, Bristol, South-ampton, the Isle of Man and Aberdeen.

Eastern Airways will continue to operate services to the Isle of Man, Southampton and Aberdeen, the other services will be lost, but Ryan Air will still run its flights to Dublin.

The British Airways flights to Dublin and Bristol will finish on January 5, flights to Aberdeen will continue until January 31 and flights to the Isle of Man, Gatwick and Southampton will continue until March 28.

A spokesman for Leeds Bradford International Airport said: "Leeds Bradford is disappointed with British Airways decision to withdraw but pleased that Eastern Airways is going to continue to operate the Isle of Man, Southampton and Aberdeen services."

British Airways CitiExpress plans to withdraw from 21 regional routes and will no longer fly from Cardiff and Leeds-Bradford airports.

David Evans, British Airways general manager UK business, said: "The proposed withdrawal of all services from Cardiff and Leeds-Bradford has been a tough decision to take but it was crucial to underpin the rest of the operation as we move forward.

"Due to redeployment opportunities within the company and the proposed transfer of some employees to Eastern we hope the overall impact on job numbers will be minimised.

"This will be the subject of consultation with our staff representatives and trade union partners in the coming weeks."

Eastern Airways is independently owned, it was founded in 1997 by by Richard Lake and Brian Huxford.

The airline employs a workforce of 230 and has its own maintenance operation to support a 16-strong Jetstream fleet.

It currently carries 300,000 passengers a year and runs more than 350 flights a week.

l Airport community group sets up - See page 10.