Easyjet is now flying to three new venues from Newcastle

Low-cost flights to three new destinations have taken off from a North East airport for the first time on Friday.

The first passengers arriving for the initial Easyjet services from Newcastle Airport to Prague, Paris, and Bristol, were greeted by Czech entertainers in national dress.

It follows the introduction of the airline's flights to Barcelona, Alicante and Belfast in March.

There will be twice daily flights to Bristol and once daily flights to both Paris and Prague.

Fares to Paris and Prague start at �17.99 one way including taxes, and the flights to Bristol start at �12.99 one way.

Passengers can now book for travel until 27 March 2004.

'Huge boost'

Easyjet's marketing manager, Moira Findlay, said: "These routes will offer fantastic new leisure travel and other opportunities.

"They will also help to attract tourists to the area and provide a huge boost to local businesses."

Newcastle was the first new Easyjet base to be announced since the company's merger with Go made it Europe's largest low cost airline. It is Easyjet's fourth regional base in the UK.

John Parkin, chief executive at Newcastle Airport, said: "These flights will add hundreds of thousands of low cost seats from Newcastle every year."