Budget airline bmibaby is to fly from the north of England from October in a move that will create 50 new jobs.

The no-frills carrier will operate from Teesside airport in Darlington, County Durham, - its fourth UK base.

Routes to be flown from the airport are being finalised and will be announced soon.

First launched at East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire in March 2002, bmibaby also flies from Cardiff and will start services from Manchester on May 1.

Tony Davis, managing director of bmibaby said: ''We are clearly committed to the growth and development of bmibaby. We are extremely pleased to announce that after just one year of operations we are now able to announce our fourth UK base at Teesside.

''The creation of yet more jobs in the North of England is also great news for the whole region in such challenging times.''

Hugh Lang, managing director, Teesside airport managing director Hugh Lang said: ''This is a huge boost for us. We've been working very closely with bmibaby over the past few months and now we're seeing all our hard work come to fruition.

''We are very much looking forward to a long working relationship with bmibaby and look forward to the start of services in October.''