Heathrow 'most important transatlantic hub'

Air France-KLM's general manager in the UK has described Heathrow Airport as the world's most important hub for transatlantic services.

Christine Ourmieres made her comments on BBC Radio 5 Live ahead of the launch of the open skies agreement on March 30th.

This accord will liberalise the airspace between the US and EU countries, allowing carriers such as Air France to base new services at Heathrow.

The French airline will launch new flights to Los Angeles from the London hub, while its partners Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines will offer services to destinations including New York, Atlanta and Minneapolis.

Ms Ourmieres described the set of upcoming flights as "a significant new offer from Heathrow".

She added: "Heathrow is the most important airport in the world in terms of volume of traffic between Europe and the US, so having this fortress now where we can fly from is a fantastic opportunity for us."

The new Terminal 5 building was opened at Heathrow Airport this week, but the launch did not go as well as British Airways had hoped, with technical glitches and staff difficulties leading to delays, cancellations and baggage problems.