Aer Arann says it is committed to Cardiff International Airport

Aer Arann took over the route from Ryanair, which pulled out of the route last week following a row over proposed airport charges.

Aer Arann says it is one of the world's fastest-growing regional airlines, and is planning three more services out of Cardiff.

The first flight left the runway at 1115 BST on Monday.

Aer Arann says Cardiff could become a base for more of its routes in future.

With four flights out of Cardiff it shows our commitment... it's a very exciting city to be flying into Micheal O Callaraian, Aer Arann

BBC Wales business editor Gareth Jones said it was the latest coup for the "ambitious" airline.

He said: "They say this is going to be a big improvement on the service that Ryanair was offering for a few years.

"The big thing about it is it will be a twice-daily service which will benefit the business traveller as well as the leisure traveller."

Marketing manager Micheal O Callaraian said Aer Arann had grown significantly in the last couple of years.

"We see this as another stage in the growth of the company and we will be working to expand out of Cardiff further to grow the company as a whole," he said.

The Cardiff-Dublin service was being set up to target both the business and leisure traveller, with several onward connections onto the USA available, said Mr O Callaraian.

Ryanair announced last Tuesday it was transferring its route with 180,000 passengers a year route from Cardiff to Bristol, citing increased charges at the airport.

It has been reported than within forty minutes Aer Arran stepped in.

Mr O Callaraian said his company was very happy with the airport and was planning other routes linking the Welsh capital with Cork and Galway in Ireland and a fourth to L'Orient in Brittany.

"With four flights out of Cardiff, it shows our commitment to Cardiff as a city - it's a very exciting city to be flying into," he said.

Chartered flights

There has been huge demand for flights for the weekend of rugby's Heineken Cup final between Munster and Biarritz at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 20 May, with some flights already fully booked.

Cardiff International Airport has defended the proposed charges, and claimed it was the latest airport to come under attack from Ryanair.

The Aer Arann expansion comes a week after Air Wales stopped operating scheduled passenger flights from Cardiff airport.

Regional airline Air South West launched a twice-daily flight from Cornwall to Cardiff in April.