AIRLINE KLM last night pledged its support for Durham Tees Valley but revealed it has no plans to bring more flights to the embattled airport.

Backing from Durham Tees Valley's most important client was a positive sign for recently-appointed airport director Steve Gill who nevertheless had hoped to persuade KLM to increase its three daily services to Amsterdam, which he has called "the absolute jewel in our crown."

Instead, Henri Hourcade, Air France KLM General Manager was in the region to announce an increase in services from Newcastle International to the Dutch and French capitals this winter in response to rising passenger numbers.

"The difference between the two airports in the North-East can be summed up at the moment as Newcastle is about development and Durham Tees Valley is about stability," said Mr Hourcade as he unveiled a 25 per cent increase in capacity from Tyneside to Paris and a 10 per cent rise to Amsterdam following the introduction of new flights and aircraft.

"Newcastle will continue to have the bigger slice of the cake as it is the major urban centre in the North-East. This is a huge step for us and a sign of the optimism we have in the region," he added.

Mr Hourcade denied the move could attract business away from Durham Tees Valley which has seen its passenger numbers fall from 650,000 in 2008 to about 200,000 this year.

"We have a very loyal clientele there and I am confident they will continue to use their local airport," he said. Asked if he thought that Durham Tees Valley had a long-term future, Mr Hourcade replied: "I think so. I dont see passengers fleeing it as a point of departure. The concerns you hear are more about the economic stability of the airport itself. We do not wish to change the landscape there at all. There is no question that there is demand and we will continue to meet that demand.

"We follow the customer. If there was any sign of an opportunity to develop our services from Durham Tees Valley then we would react to that immediately, as we have done at Newcastle. It is the strategy of Air France KLM to feed the major hubs from regional airports."

Mr Gill wants the regions business community to help convince more operators they should use the facility. Prior to his appointment Eastern Airways axed its Southampton service in response to plummeting passenger numbers. However, the operator last night confirmed that demand remains strong for its four daily flights from the region to Aberdeen, which are used mainly by workers in the offshore industry. Eastern was named the Best Passenger Charter Airline at the Baltic Air Charter Association (BACA) Excellence Awards this week. The operator employs 50 staff at Newcastle and 20 staff at Durham Tees Valley consisting of pilots, cabin crew and engineers.