The bmi group said yesterday it would "reaffirm" its commitment to Scottish air travellers after reports that First Minister Alex Salmond had sought assurances from British Airways about its plans.

Nigel Turner, chief executive of the bmi group, said in a letter to the First Minister that there was much to be done to improve air services to Scotland and that he would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with Mr Salmond if he felt it appropriate.

He added that bmi's loyalty to the Scottish market "remains undiminished and we look forward to continuing our excellent relationship and support from your party members and the wider Scottish community."

Earlier this month, BA confirmed that about 130 cabin crew jobs were to be cut in Glasgow but the company insisted that the losses would have no effect on scheduled flights from Scotland.

The news came as Ryanair announced it was referring BP to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over what it claimed were unjustified increases in fuel delivery charges at Prestwick. The budget airline accused Air BP of profiteering, and called on the OFT to investigate its attempts to impose increases of more than 50% on the delivery cost of aviation fuel at the airports when inflation is running at 5%.

BP expressed surprise at the Ryanair move and said it was confident it had not infringed competition law.