FLYBE could launch a service from City of Derry Airport to London Heathrow.
It is one of 12 new regional routes to the hub under consideration by the airline.
The news comes just two weeks after Ryanair announced plans to axe its Derry to London Stansted flights by the end of March 2017.
Flybe is set to reveal the new routes it is considering in response to a proposed plan announced by Heathrow to enter into immediate consultation should the Government give the go-ahead to build a third runway.
The plan features a proposal to fast-track extra capacity within four years with an extra 25,000 new flight movements by 2021 on existing runways.
And to help establish new domestic connections, it would ring-fence this early additional capacity solely for domestic flights, extend until 2037 a £10 discount for every departing passenger flying from Heathrow to a UK destination, and bring forward a £10m route development fund to 2021.
The other routes Flybe is looking at are:
Carlisle Lake District; Dundee; Humberside; Liverpool; Norwich; Prestwick; Durham Tees; Doncaster Sheffield; Isle of Man; Jersey and Guernsey.
Flybe CEO Saad Hammad said the announcement by Heathrow “paves the way” for it to “jump quickly into action”.
“To effectively compete in a post-Brexit environment whilst a third runway is built in the South East, and in light of the new Heathrow plans, Flybe would strongly urge the Government to give an expanded Heathrow the green light,” he said.
“Together we can then start without further undue delay to deliver the fastest, most convenient and frequent selection of regional air services that Britain badly needs.”
Tags: