BUDGET airline easyJet will put cost-conscious travellers' minds at rest today when it announces six new routes out of Newcastle Airport.

There has been a great deal of speculation about the destinations which will be served in the wake of the operator's decision to set up a dedicated base at the airport.

The airline is expected to say that new links to London will be opened up via Gatwick and Luton, but it is the remaining foreign flight routes that have caused the biggest stir..

EasyJet has remained silent about the decision, the result of which was, in-part, determined by a competition run on its website allowing potential passengers to indicate their preferred choices.

A company spokesman hinted recently that sunnier destinations had won the lion's share of the voting.

European cities will also be sought-after venues.

Newcastle Airport achieved a major coup in luring easyJet to the region.

The budget flier was considering using Glasgow and Edinburgh for further routes shortly before announcing plans to open a base at Newcastle.

An easyJet spokeswoman said at the time that Newcastle had come forward with a "brilliant" offer.

She said: "We had hoped to expand routes from Scotland. We lost that opportunity when Newcastle came up with the goods and Glasgow and Edinburgh did not."

Passenger numbers are expected to rise in the wake of the announcement, backed by reports from the airport earlier this month that confidence in air travel was on the up.

Mike Luddy, Newcastle Airport's marketing director said: "This demand for air travel has been reflected in the huge amount of interest in the announcement of low-fare routes to be available from Newcastle."

A list of potential destinations easyJet could announce today includes Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Bilbao, Bologna, Faro, Geneva, Ibiza, London Gatwick, London Luton, Lyon, Madrid, Malaga, Milan, Munich, Naples, Palma, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice and Zurich.