A NEW era of air links to and from the region took off without a seat to spare at the weekend.

Emirates' inaugural flights to Dubai touched down at, and departed from, Newcastle International Airport, on Saturday.

The first incoming flight landed shortly after noon, before the maiden outgoing journey took off an hour-and-a-half later.

All 268 seats on the A330-200 Airbus were booked, as passengers took advantage of the new daily links to the United Arab Emirates, with many going on to longer-haul destinations from Dubai.

The arrival of the first long-haul scheduled flight, EK035, was greeted with a splash as the inbound Airbus was met with a water canon salute.

Emirates' European commercial operations senior vice-president Keith Longstaff said the route had broken pre-launch sales records.

"Never before in the UK has Emirates sold out so quickly on the first two flights of a new service.

"Thousands are already booked from Newcastle to far- flung places throughout the Emirates' network."

Passengers are able to leave Newcastle for 26 destinations via Dubai, including Sydney, Beijing, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Auckland, Islamabad, Delhi and Johannesburg.

On the freight side, Emirates SkyCargo offers 13 tonnes of cargo capacity in each direction.

Consignments including machinery and car parts produced by companies throughout the North-East are expected to feature among exports, with imports expected to include consumer goods of every description.

The airport's chief operating officer, David Laws, said: "The arrival of Emirates to Newcastle International is, without question, the most significant new route development in the airport's 72-year history.

"This achievement is a major coup, not just for the airport, but for North-East England as a whole."

Regional development agency One NorthEast chairman Margaret Fay said the Dubai route was a boost for regional trade, export and connectivity.

"It gives us better access to the Middle East, India, southern Africa, Asia and Australasia.

"Recent figures tell us that the Asia/Oceanic market alone is worth about £825m in exports from the region."

Emirates flight EK036 leaves Newcastle at 1.40pm daily, arriving at Dubai International Airport at 12.05am, local time, the next day.

The inbound flight, EK035, leaves from Dubai at 7.20am local time each day, arriving in Newcastle at 12.10pm