Airport celebrates second anniversary of British Airways’ return to Yorkshire

British Airways launched its Heathrow service in December 2012, ending an absence of 32 years.

Resumption of the service restored the much-needed link to one of the world’s busiest airports and its onward connections to global markets.

Tony Hallwood, aviation development director at the airport, said: “We are pleased to celebrate that more than 250,000 passengers have now flown on this service over the last two years.”

He said the service has seen strong traffic growth this year and called on Yorkshire businesses to support the airport’s bid to secure an early 7am departure from LBA.

This would allow Leeds and Yorkshire to compete with other regional airports in the UK and provide a significant increase in the number of onward connections at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, he added.

A spokeswoman for BA said: “We currently have no plans to increase frequency from LBA although we do continuously monitor our routes and network.”

She added that frequency is three return flights a day, but there are currently some “seasonal tactical cancellations” across the network. This will return to normal in January, she added.

The spokeswoman said business travellers have welcomed the move of Leeds Bradford flights into Terminal 5.

This gives them a quick and easy journey through Heathrow onto more than 120 European and worldwide BA flights, she explained.