New aircraft and routes announced at airport

A third Ryanair aircraft will be based in Newcastle for the winter season

Ryanair will bring a third aircraft and five new routes to Newcastle International Airport for the upcoming winter season.

The airline announced the airport will get a new Boeing 737 8-200 "Gamechanger" later this year, along with a new route to the Belgian capital Brussels and the addition of winter flights to Malta, Budapest in Hungary, and Gdańsk and Wrocław in Poland.

The move would support more than 850 local jobs including 30 local pilot and cabin crew roles it is now hiring for, the airline said.

Airport chief operating officer Richard Knight said the further investment in the region was "fantastic".

He said: "This expansion will deliver over one million passengers for Ryanair over the next 12 months, reflecting the strength of our partnership and the growing demand for connectivity from the North East to key European destinations."

The aircraft will deliver 17 routes in total including more flights to Alicante in Spain, Dublin in Ireland and the Polish city of Kraków.

Ryanair said the new aircraft represented £74m ($100m) in investment in the region including the new jobs.

Airport chief commercial officer Jason McGuinness said it would provide a "huge economic boost to the North East".

In 2024, the airport welcomed 5.2 million passengers.