THREE of the six new routes announced at Teesside International Airport earlier year took to the skies this week.

Passengers are now able to fly to Dublin, Belfast and Southampton following the introduction of the routes, which started on Monday.

It means the Irish capital is an hour away, with flights running on six days a week.

It is being operated by Eastern Airways, which until last week was part of Flybe's franchise.

Though it used Flybe's booking system, the airline owns its own aeroplanes and employs its own staff.

After three years with Flybe, it has gone back to being an independent airline.

Following the airline's collapse last week, it has set up its own booking system, which went live on Saturday, and has promised to honour all Flybe bookings.

Eastern operates the majority of flights from Teesside, including a new flight to Cardiff and long-standing service to Aberdeen. It plans to start flying to London from April and to the Isle of Man and Alicante later in the year for seasonal connections.

Meanwhile, travel agents from Belfast have been visiting parts of Teesside to get to know the area better.

On a 24-hour trip to the area, they visited Guisborough, Yarm and Saltburn before having dinner at the Hippodrome, in Darlington.