AIR links between Liverpool and London have had a troubled history.
Until March, 2001, Easyjet operated a service between Liverpool and London Luton, but scrapped it when it was losing too much money because of a hike in landing charges at Luton.
A number of other airlines have also tried to fill the void, without success.
The most promising development came following a Daily Post campaign called Fight for a Flight in 2003, backed by the business community.
This highlighted the strategic importance of Liverpool having direct flights to the capital.
Belgian airline VLM eventually restored a five-times-a-day service linking Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) with London City Airport, in February, 2004.
But soon afterwards the route hit difficulties which saw it gradually scaling down its services until they were suspended altogether, in July, 2007.
The airline blamed falling passenger numbers and increased competition from improved rail links between Liverpool and the capital, following the upgrade of the West Coast main line.
