THE Government has announced that it is prepared to intervene to create landing slots at London airports for flights from the North.

"Ring-fencing" of precious London flight slots for provincial UK airports was one of the key elements of the Daily Post's Fight for a Flight campaign to establish a Liver- pool-London air link.

Editor Jane Wolstenholme delivered a 9,000-signature petition to Transport Minister Kim Howells last month setting out our case.

The following week, Belgian airline VLM announced that it was to launch a new service from Liverpool to London City Airport in February.

Yesterday's news opens up the prospect of future protected flight slots at Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted for an operator flying out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The pledge was made as part of the Government's long-awaited blueprint for the expansion of airports over the next 30 years.

The Government said it would be more likely to intervene on behalf of a "development region" to ensure an adequate level of service. That will help Merseyside, because of its European Union Objective 1 status.

But a so-called Public Service Obligation (PSO) would only be imposed where it was "vital to economic development" - a case to be proved by the regional development agency.

The White Paper admitted the current allocation system had "fundamental weaknesses" because it reflected historic use rather than the benefit to passengers or the economy.

And crucially, it said the Government was "prepared to intervene to protect slots at the London airports" to prevent an airline using them for a service to foreign airports.

A consultation will be launched to decide which areas should qualify as "development regions" and to define an "adequate level of service". One concern for Liverpool is the possibility that the new VLM service might be considered adequate for the city's needs.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport boss Neil Pakey welcomed the development last night.

"We are blessed with the new VLM service to London City but there is demand in two distinct markets," he said.

"What we also need is connectivity though Heathrow which is the major international hub in the UK. We are interested in acquiring slots at Heathrow.

"People living in Sydney, or Kuala Lumpur, or New York need to find Liverpool on their reservations systems - at the moment, they can't do that."