London City Airport has welcomed the return of air travel with a flight from Ronaldsway but now the future of the route is under question.

When the Loganair-operated British Airways flight touched down just after 6pm on Sunday evening, it marked the first commercial arrival at the central London airport since it closed on March 25.

Since the airport closed, the only flights between the island and the UK capital have been Loganair-operated flights to Heathrow which have allowed key workers to travel to and from the island.

The arrival of the flight was celebrated by fire crews at London City as two engines gave the aircraft a guard of honour as it taxied from the runway. The airport even tweeted a video of the landing saying: ’And we’re back!’

However, British Airways is only selling direct flights between Ronaldsway and City until Sunday, September 13. After that date, passengers are offered a variety of connecting routes to London’s smallest airport.

A British Airways spokesman said: ’We’re not providing any detail in terms of our future schedule as things continue to change very quickly. We’re advising customers to check www.ba.com for the most up-to-date information on flights.’

Meanwhile, Loganair’s move to take over former Flybe routes is looking likely to continue. At the start of June it confirmed it was ’pressing ahead’ with its plans to restore the route to Birmingham and a formal announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

The island’s other major airline, easyJet, is selling tickets on its website for flights to and from Gatwick as of July 21. It was due to restart flights this month but those plans were put on hold after talks with the Manx government. No flights to Liverpool are available before August 1.