A NORTH-East airport was last night celebrating a second day of good news after a travel operator said it was to introduce direct flights to the United States from the facility.

Monarch Travel Group owned Cosmos Holidays said yesterday it was to introduce holidays and flights from Newcastle Airport to Orlando, Florida, next summer.

It follows Tuesday's announcement that Jet2.com is extending its services from the airport to 27 routes and creating more than 100 jobs.

Florida is presently the most popular long haul tourist destination from UK airports.

Newcastle Airport chief executive Dave Laws said: "We are delighted that the Monarch Holiday Group has invested in the North East.

"We know that more than 20,000 people from the region travel to Orlando from other UK airports, and it's great news that Cosmos now offer this to give our customers more choice when travelling from their local airport."

Hugh Morgan, managing director of tour operations for the Monarch Travel Group, said: "We are offering both package holidays and flight-only options.

"As Florida is a very popular destination with our customers in the North-East, we wanted to be able to offer the convenience and flexibility of flying from their local airport."