TRANSPORT Minister Tony McNulty last night told the Daily Post the case for a Liverpool to London air link was "very strong".
We presented Mr McNulty with a copy of yesterday's Daily Post, in which we launched our Fight for a Flight campaign to restore this vital link to the capital.
Mr McNulty responded by urging Liverpool's business community to put the case for a service to the capital " as robustly as possible".
The minister met a delegation at Liverpool John Lennon Airport which included representatives from the Mersey Partnership, budget airline easyJet and airport owners Peel Holdings.
They told him the Government must follow the lead of our European neighbours by intervening to help regional airports get access to slots for services out of Heathrow and Gatwick.
Later this year the Government will publish a White Paper outlining its proposals to increase the UK's airport capacity.
Consultations are taking place with all interested parties and firmly on the agenda are proposals to ringfence slots at major airports for the regions and possible exemptions from Air Passenger Duty.
The Daily Post Fight for a Flight campaign aims to persuade the government that both of these elements are vital if Liverpool is to have its air link with London rstored.
After emerging from the airport meeting, Mr McNulty said: "The meeting was extremely interesting with some very strong cases made by easyJet, the airport and the Mersey Partnership.
"How convincing they are people will see as and when we get to the White Paper. I am very much persuaded that these are arguments that need to go into the pot."
Mr McNulty promised to listen "very closely" to what Liverpool had to say adding that the city had to make sure its case was at least as strong as those from other regional airports.
In the easyJet delegation was the airline's business development manager, Liz Savage and communications chief Toby Nichol.
Mr Nichol said last night the carrier would consider a Liverpool-London service to replace their previous one, which stopped in 2001, if the economic conditions were right.
He added: "I think the Government could do more. In France, a third of the slots at major airports are set aside under the Public Service Obligation (PSO) for regional services."
Also at the meeting was David Moorcroft, director of economics and investment of the Mersey Partnership who said the Government had to help Liverpool create the right economic climate for the expansion of services at John Lennon Airport.
"I presented the business case to the minister about creating the right sort of climate for Merseyside and I think the two points raised by the Daily Post are critical in helping to facilitate the expansion of regional airports."
Yesterday, messages of support for the Daily Post's campaign began pouring in to our newsroom and Liverpool's opposition Labour group will put a motion before the next full council meeting proposing the authority officially backs our campaign.
