DIRECT flights from Newcastle and Teesside to Heathrow could be axed as airlines switch to more lucrative overseas routes, a committee of MPs has warned.

Nine British airports - including Liverpool and Humberside - have already been shut out as the number of regional flights into Heathrow has slumped by 34 per cent since 1988.

Now a report by the influential Commons transport select committee has warned that Newcastle, Teesside and Leeds-Bradford could be next.

It condemned threats by British Airways and British Midland to withdraw further regional services unless extra capacity was provided at Heathrow.

The committee concluded: "British Airways and BMI implied that further regional services would be withdrawn unless extra capacity was provided at Heathrow.

"We deplore this tactic , particularly when the proponents have shown little regard for regional authorities and airports and indeed have treated many of them with contempt.

"This reinforces the committee's view that firm Government action to secure these vital regional links is the only way forward."

Its report, published yesterday, made clear there was no question of regional routes being "not viable". It was simply that they were not as profitable.

And it insisted flights from regional airports to either Luton or Stansted - far from the centre of London - were no substitute for Heathrow or Gatwick.

Direct flights to a major airport were vital to attracting investment to struggling areas, such as the North-East.

The report said: "All regional cities have the right to have speedy and efficient access to the capital. It is absurd to put billions of pounds into regional aid yet not give any assurance to provide guaranteed air access."

The report was published a few months before the Government's long-promised White Paper, proposing where airport expansion should take place.