EAGER holidaymakers have suggested 125 destinations for the low-cost airline bmibaby when it sets up shop at Teesside Airport.

The operation will start with three routes in October, out of what will be a total of eight. Earlier this month the company asked people to e-mail their favoured destinations and 4,000 have responded so far.

On Wednesday, Tom Lumley, deputy managing director, told the airport consultative committee: "In the first 24 hours we received 700 e-mails and 125 different destinations have been suggested. So you can see there is a lot of interest."

Questioned about the possibility of night flights, he said it was almost inevitable that there would the occasional one to meet turnaround times. But he could not confirm that until the schedules were announced.

John Waiting, business services manager, said the majority of aircraft now using Teesside were substantially quieter and less polluting. There were also fewer complaints about noise from flying club aircraft over Middleton St George.

Coun David Lyonette, chairman, said : "It is in the interests of the Tees Valley that the airport survives and it is good that companies like bmi have become more interested because of the changes here."

Mr Waiting agreed: "You will see several hundred thousand more passengers going through the airport in the next couple of months, once the company is operational."