The events surrounding Flybe last week have put domestic connectivity right at the top of the agenda. While Flybe's situation is the last thing we want to see, the resulting examination of how best to support connectivity is a good thing.

Championing and investing in the regions is a priority for the government. Channel 4 is already relocating to Leeds and Conservative MPs have even floated the idea of moving a department to Darlington. However, this rebalancing should not be detrimental for London. As Sadiq Khan said in a speech last week, "clipping London's wings is not the answer if you want to help other cities and regions to soar". Without strong connections to London's financial, political, legal and cultural centres, efforts to boost the rest of the UK won't get off the ground.

It's important that people can quickly and easily move around the UK. But it is vital that people from across the country can quickly and easily get to and from central London. In the absence of high-speed rail, which has a limited reach and an uncertain future, aviation will remain the best way of achieving this for a long time to come.

London City Airport has always served this purpose. In 2019, for the first time ever, we saw over five million passengers travel to and from the airport. This success is due to the importance of London and our unique ability to provide people with a fast and convenient way of getting to where they want to go.

Today, 22 percent of our passengers are on flights to domestic destinations like Glasgow, Exeter, Jersey and the Isle of Man - more than double what other London airports manage.

Last year over 511,000 people flew between Edinburgh and London City Airport, making it our second most popular route. Since 2012 this link between two great capital cities has grown by about 60 percent, driven by a renewed financial sector and a burgeoning cultural exchange.

It's a similar story for Belfast, which has been revitalised in recent years. Of our top ten routes, Belfast grew the most in 2019 with approximately 211,000 people travelling between Northern Ireland and London via City Airport. Attractions like the historic Titanic Quarter mean this is two-way traffic, which has increased by nearly 75 percent since the route began in 2017.

We are continuing our role connecting the UK and central London this year, launching a route to Dundee in March. In fact, this route is returning to the airport having moved to Stansted in 2014. After that move passenger numbers shrunk to barely 21,000 per year from a peak of over 50,000 when flying into City. Announcing the return to LCY, local stakeholders said fast and frequent services to and from the centre of London were "the missing part of the puzzle". From March, Dundonians will be able to get there in 20 minutes from the airport for as little as £2.80 on the DLR.

It isn't just businesses that benefit either. 55 percent of our passengers are travelling for leisure, with trips to the Edinburgh Fringe and Devon's beaches popular. Soon they will also be able to visit the V&A in Dundee.

We have a proven model to make domestic connectivity work and we are investing in it. Our £500 million development programme is creating more capacity for flights to UK destinations. What's more, we are delivering that capacity quickly with new stands becoming operational soon.

If, as expected, the government looks at how to make flying a sustainable part of domestic connectivity in the coming weeks, a review of APD will be welcome. This double dip cost on both legs of your journey, in a competitive market and in the face of increasing costs, is a burden that doesn't tally with the value domestic flights have.

But it's essential that they consider connectivity from the passenger's perspective. The numbers show that they want fast, frequent and convenient ways of getting to and from central London. London City Airport is ready and willing to provide exactly that, as a vital cog in the machine that creates shared prosperity for the whole of the UK.

£ To find out more, please visit www.londoncityairport.com or @LondonCityAir on social media

(c) 2020 City A.M., source Newspaper