THE UK head of a major airline has confirmed its commitment to one of the region’s airports and pledged no services would be cut despite the economic uncertainty surrounding the aviation industry.

Christine Ourmieres, UK general manager of Air France KLM, yesterday visited Durham Tees Valley airport, which KLM has served for 20 years.

She confirmed that the three daily flights KLM runs from Durham Tees Valley to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport would be retained.

About 55 per cent of the passengers on the flights are business travellers and it is an important route for the processing sector on Teesside.

Ms Ourmieres said: “We are keeping the same number of services we have presently on the route, it is a success.

“In Teesside, we are talking about a loyalty for 20 years and we are very proud of that.

“We have three daily flights and we would like to consolidate that.

“We have no plan to add to the services, but we are committed to keep this network and it is part of our regional airport strategy.

“People know our products, have a strong relationship with our brand and the route, from a pure economic perspective, is positive. We want to be here and we don’t want to change what we can build on.”

Ms Ourmieres was confident that the airline would continue to attract significant numbers of business travellers, even with a number of budget carriers available.

She believed that the company offered a service so that the business traveller arrived at their destination or at an airport where they could pick up a connecting flight.

The average waiting time for passengers from Durham Tees Valley picking up a connecting flight in Amsterdam was about 45 minutes. Ms Ourmieres said: “If you fly with KLM, you land in a hub airport.

To the business traveller time is key.

“We know we are not a lowcost airline and we are not trying to be.”

Durham Tees Valley operations director Kerry Quinn outlined the importance of KLM’s route.

She said: “It is critical, not just to the airport but the region.

We know how important such services are into the Tees Valley area.

“People travelling into here can get straight into the Tees Valley.

“With the petro-chemical industry, this area is an industrial conurbation which relies on such services.”

Nick Smillie, aviation director of Peel Airports, the owners of Durham Tees Valley, said: “The success of KLM goes hand in hand with local businesses.

“The petro-chemical sector is booming at the moment, companies are making high levels of investment and they rely on us to get to their destination.

“It is a success story that ties in with the local economy in the Tees Valley.”

Future Air France KLM plans include introducing self check-in kiosks for passengers at Durham Tees Valley, with bag drop areas, which would enable passengers to proceed straight to the security clearance area.

Rising fuel prices and the credit crunch have hit Durham Tees valley hard.

Thomson will stop its route to Alicante, in Spain, from next year, and Hungarian carrier Wizz Air pulled out of flights to Warsaw.