Bradford has very strong historical links with Germany. Indeed, much of its wealth a century or more ago came through the success of German entrepreneurs who moved here and opened businesses, many of them in the district which soon became known as Little Germany and is now one of the city's showpieces.

The fine stone buildings in the area between Church Bank and the Shipley Airedale Road are a monument to the business acumen and ambition of these people.

It makes a great deal of sense to try to build on those links in modern Bradford by encouraging more tourism from Germany, which is what should happen if Leeds Bradford Airport manages to land the new flight to a major German airport which is currently the subject of what are being called "advanced talks".

There is already a long tradition of bringing German visitors to this city thanks to the efforts of members of twinning associations in Bradford and Shipley, who have reciprocal arrangements with their counterparts in Munchenglad-bach and Hamm to stay in each other's homes on exchange visits.

Currently, though, the deterrent to general tourism from Germany is that visitors have to fly to Manchester. Direct flights to Leeds Bradford Airport would enable West Yorkshire to promote itself heavily in that country as a tourist destination. It would also help this region to strengthen business links with Germany, and it would give more German people a chance to see the major contribution their forebears made to a city like Bradford.