BA grounds Loire Valley flights after cost-saving measures cut air traffic control at French airport

Angers-Loire airport in western France lost its air-traffic controllers at the end of last year

The French aviation authority stopped providing air traffic control services at Angers-Loire (Getty)

British Airways has announced that planned flights from London City airport to one of the most beautiful regions of France will not operate “due to air traffic control restrictions”.

Angers is on the Maine river just north of its confluence with the Loire, and the city acts as the western gateway to the Loire valley. It has an impressive location and boasts a formidable chateau and large cathedral.

But this summer it will fall off the flight map from Britain. BA was planning to continue its summer-only flight from London City airport. But at the end of 2016, the French aviation authority decided to stop providing air traffic control services as a cost-saving measure.

While in some instances passenger flights are still permitted without a staffed control tower, it appears BA was not prepared to operate under such circumstances.

The airport director, Jean-Pierre Stagnaro, called the move: “A simple reason with a dramatic result.”

But he was optimistic that the link would be restored, with a different airline: “We are working towards another solution,” he told The Independent.

The OAG Pocket Flight Guide shows just one destination currently available from Angers: Paris, with five departures a day. But on closer inspection they turn out to be high-speed rail services.

Angers-Loire faces stiff competition from nearby airports. Nantes, Rennes, Tours and Poitiers are all under 100 miles away.

In addition, Ryanair has just announced a new route from Stansted to Lorient, 150 miles west. Flights will operate from 4 July to 28 October. The link will compete with British Airways, which has a summer flight programme from London City to nearby Quimper.

BA is withdrawing its London City-Hamburg link because of intense competition. But it has announced a new summer route from the Docklands airport to the Greek island of Skiathos. Flights begin on 26 June. In addition, BA services from London City to Mykonos have been stepped up.

The London City-Manchester link is restored in May, when British Airways introduces a Thursday evening flight northbound, returning on Sunday evening. These 155-mile hops are, in reality, “positioning flights” to get an aircraft in place at Manchester airport to operate a series of holiday flights over the weekend.