bmibaby to touch down in Teesside

The company announced on Thursday it would be flying from the north-east of England airport from October.

It is the company's their fourth UK base.

Routes to be flown from the airport are being finalised and will be announced soon, but are thought to include Prague and Geneva.

Hugh Lang, Teesside Airport managing director, said: "This is a huge boost for us.

"We've been working very closely with bmibaby over the past few months and now we're seeing all our hard work come to fruition.

"We are very much looking forward to a long working relationship with bmibaby and look forward to the start of services in October."

Boost for region

The no-frills airline was first launched at East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire in March 2002, also flies from Cardiff and will start services from Manchester on 1 May.

Tony Davis, managing director of bmibaby, said: "The creation of yet more jobs in the North of England is great news for the whole region in such challenging times.

"We are clearly committed to the growth and development of bmibaby.

"We are extremely pleased to announce that after just one year of operations we are now able to announce our fourth UK base at Teesside."

The airline is a subsidiary of British Midlands and currently flies to 26 destinations in 12 countries in the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. It has a fleet of 11 aircraft and employs 266 staff.