MORE than 50 jobs will be created by the new Liverpool to London air link.

Belgium airline VLM last month announced a five-times daily service from John Lennon Airport starting in February.

The company revealed last night it would be creating around 35 new positions to cope with the service.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport added that additional staff it would need could increase the figure to over 50.

The link was announced after the Daily Post Fight for a Flight campaign for a new air route to the capital.

Jobs gained will not just be flight staff but will include the whole workforce right through to cleaners, check-in staff and baggage handlers.

A spokesman for VLM said: "The industry has a formula for the number of staff needed.

"You have the same number of staff as you have passengers on your fight.

"We are using a 50-seater plane and airlines aim for somewhere in the region of 70pc full so we are looking at somewhere around 35 jobs.

"This is not just staff on the plane. It also includes those employed indirectly like cleaners and check-in staff."

A spokesman for Liverpool John Lennon Airport said: "If you take those 35 jobs I would not be surprised if when you add our own involvement it will be around the 50 mark.

"It is not just a matter of saying that we have a new route and are getting more staff in, it is part of the airport's current growth.

"The jobs are a bonus really. The air link will be a great boost to all of Liverpool.

"With the trains as they are it will provide a clear route to the capital.

"There are plenty of companies that want to do business in Liverpool and in the past there was no real way for them to get up here."

The route is VLM's second attempt in less than 10 years at operating a service between the two airports. The previous route foundered in 1994. Links from London City into the capital at that time were poor but are now vastly improved.

Fokker 50 aircraft that are capable of holding 50 passengers will be used on the route.

The airline has shown a pioneering spirit by being the first to use London City airport in 1993 when Docklands was just waste ground and the Jubilee underground train line had not been extended.

Flight destinations include Antwerp, Milan, Hamburg, London and Manchester with trips between London City and Rotterdam run by a Dutch subsidiary of the company.

Tickets for the five flights a day to London, which start on February 23, are now on sale via VLM's website: www.flyvlm.com/