Aerosol assisted CVD (AACVD) is a self-catalyzed method that allows for growing single crystalline metal oxide nanowires at moderate temperatures (i.e. up to 380C). This is employed here to grow either Pt or Au-decorated tungsten oxide nanowires directly on flexible polymeric hotplates. E-SEM, EDX and XRD analysis have been used to investigate the morphology and the composition of the nanostructures grown. The functionality of the devices has been demonstrated by testing their gas sensing properties to ethanol, hydrogen and nitrogen dioxide. These flexible sensors show excellent and fast responses, good baseline recovery and repeatability. Tested over a few months, they show also excellent stability. These sensors are good candidates for being integrated in flexible tags for air quality control. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.