British Airways is pulling out of Birmingham Airport, putting services and the jobs of around 200 ground crew at risk.

BA revealed it was selling its regional operations to rival Flybe, which ends more than 60 years of history, dating to the first flight out of Birmingham in 1939 by BOAC, which later became BA.

The airline has nine aircraft on 16 routes operating 456 flights a week in and out of Birmingham.

BA Connect in Birmingham employs 700 of the regional outfit’s 1,900-strong workforce. Around 400 of the Midlands-based employees are transferring across to the new owner but the fate of the ground staff has not been decided.

They also work for other airlines at Birmingham, who may chose to hire them. Otherwise they could face the dole queue.

The shock move follows years of struggle for British Airways in the regions, where it has failed to make a profit. It has now decided to pull out of domestic flights to concentrate on flying to Europe, America and the Far East.

BA also announced today that the terror scare in August cost it £100 million instead of the £40 million it originally expected.

And BA today revealed a 27 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £176 million for the three months from July to September.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: “The proposed sale to Flybe provides the best opportunity to secure the long-term future for the many dedicated staff in BA Connect.”

Although the sale to Flybe involves no cash changing hands, BA has taken a 15 per cent stake in the budget business.

By Simon Penfold