ONE of Europe's leading airlines is launching a daily service between Southampton and Amsterdam at the end of next month.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced that the flights will be operated by KLM Cityhopper using an Embraer 175 aircraft from August 31.

Southampton Airport was still reeling from the collapse of Flybe when the start of the coronavirus pandemic resulted in all flights being grounded.

The airport is also embroiled in a long-running controversy over whether its runway should be extended to allow larger planes to use the site.

But bosses have at last received some good news - the resumption of a service that was suspended 16 months ago.

A spokesperson said: "Southampton Airport welcomes the return of the Netherlands flag carrier following the suspension of the service in March 2019.

"The new route connects the South of England with KLM’s extensive global network via Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and is a significant boost for both tourism and business travel in the region.

"Despite the major impact of the corona crisis on European aviation, regional connectivity is key to KLM’s strategy in the UK and the airline expects to return to its pre-Covid network by 3rd August.

"The addition of the Southampton route will further strengthen KLM’s position with the airline now offering worldwide connectivity from 17 airports across the UK."

Benedicte Duval, general manager for Air France KLM in the UK & Ireland said: “After what has been a particularly challenging period, we’re delighted to be in a position to relaunch our KLM service from Southampton."