BELGIAN airline DAT is to increase its services between Newcastle and Brussels.

The company said it was introducing an extra daily flight from Sunday. They will operate every day, giving four flights on Sundays and three on Saturdays.

The new flights will leave Newcastle at 7.35pm, arriving in Brussels at 9.50pm.

From Brussels the extra flight will leave at 8pm and arrive in Newcastle at 8.25pm local time.

Country manager UK Graeme Lloyd said: "This schedule increase offers more flexibility to our passengers and shows our determination to be a key player on the route."

Meanwhile DAT's new chief executive, Rob Kuijpers, welcomed a solution found by investors and creditors to support the re-launch of the airline.

He said: "I would like to thanks all concerned parties for their numerous efforts.

"My thanks also go to DAT employees who, even in very difficult times, have kept on fighting to satisfy and please our customers."

Mr Kuijpers added: "The challenges will be to develop and implement strategic plans that can ensure profitable growth."

He said that, in line with that thinking, talks had started between DAT and Virgin Express to see if it would make business sense to merge the two companies, but a decision had yet to be taken.

The coming weeks will be dedicated to analysing the possibility, advantages and disadvantages of a potential deal.