Cheap Flights From Norwich

Norwich International Airport (NWI Norwich)

The prospect of cheap flights from Norfolk to a host of holiday destinations loomed on the horizon last night as Norwich International airport landed a deal with Europe's third-largest low-cost operator.

The deal, set to be confirmed next week, will see flybe.com. running "brand new routes" to a number of destinations from Norwich.

It is a massive boost to holidaymakers in and around Norfolk, who currently have to drive for hours to get to Stansted, or beyond to the likes of Gatwick and Heathrow, for access to budget flights.

It also confirms Norwich airport's promotion to the big league of regional airports, less than a year after Omniport took it over with a promise of more cheap flights.

The deal may be launched with a few destinations at first but flybe. is believed to be planning a "long-term, growing" presence in Norwich.

The new destinations will not be revealed until Tuesday but a look at the range of places flybe. goes to from its main bases - Southampton, Exeter and Birmingham - gives a hint of what could be coming.

They include Bergerac, Perpignan and Toulouse in the south of France, Malaga and Murcia in southern Spain, Faro in Portugal, Salzburg in Austria and Geneva in Switzerland.

Flybe. also operates in and out of a number of British airports, including Belfast City, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle. Cheaper flights to some of those cities could be a boost to business travellers in East Anglia.

The Exeter-based operator has a solid reputation in the industry, and last week posted record half-year profits of £14m.

It has 31 planes, flies to 25 international and 17 domestic destinations and is the largest carrier to and from Birmingham, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Exeter and Southampton.

Last night, officials at Norwich International and flybe. declined to comment on the imminent announcement as they put the finishing touches to the deal.

The new partnership comes a few weeks after Air Wales began to operate flights to Dublin from Norwich. Bookings are well above estimates.

Now Air Wales is rumoured to be looking at adding new locations from Norwich to cash in on the interest.

Norwich's commercial director Trevor Eady said: "They are so pleased with what's happening on the Norwich to Dublin flights that they are looking to add to it. I think it is likely to be to the north, perhaps another Scottish destination."

The new developments are a big boost to Omniport, which paid Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council £11.1m in March for an 80.1pc stake in the airport. It has also committed itself to spending another £8.3m upgrading the airport's ageing infrastructure.

In September, new managing director Richard Jenner said: "We see opportunities for new routes. The more choice you can offer passengers, the more they will look first to their regional airport, rather than going to Stansted."

Omniport is also hoping to oversee the doubling of passenger numbers from last year's figure of 462,000.