THE region's airports are recruiting hundreds of extra staff, as they gear up for their busiest ever summer.

Newcastle International Airport is taking on around 250 seasonal workers, as the holiday season officially gets under way.

The UK's fastest growing regional airport will welcome 3.21 million passengers through its terminal between Sunday and the end of October.

That is a 55 per cent increase in passenger numbers since 2000, and more than 200,000 passengers than last summer.

Over the current four-day bank holiday weekend, an estimated 50,000 people will use the airport.

From next month, the number of routes on offer will rise from 56 to 85, the largest number ever offered from Newcastle.

New additions include flights to Egypt, Greece and the Dominican Republic, plus low-cost services to Milan, Munich and Cologne.

Chris Sanders, manager of aviation development at Newcastle International, said: "Whilst demand for travel to traditional summer sun spots in the Mediterranean remains high, new and more far-flung destinations are also proving incredibly popular with North-East holidaymakers."

Greek specialist Kosmar launched its new service to Kalamata yesterday and tour operator Thomas Cook starts new charter flights to Izmir, in Turkey, on Thursday.

New flights to the Dominican Republic direct from Newcastle also start on May 6.

Meanwhile, budget airline bmibaby has announced it is introducing a service from Durham Tees Valley (DTV) to Newquay Cornwall International.

The service will provide 1,000 seats a week, on the first direct link between the North-East and South-West. The first flight departs on June 10.

The airline already operates flights from DTV to Alicante, Cork, Jersey, Malaga, Palma and Paris.

DTV predicts it will see 12,500 people flying over the bank holiday, roughly 25 per cent more than last year.

It expects passenger numbers overall to break through the one million mark this year, with new flights to Rome, Corfu, Tunisia and Costa Brava.

Richard Whitehouse, commercial manager, said: "The prospects for 2005 look excellent.

"In January, we unveiled an ambitious re-development programme which will enable the airport to handle up to three million passengers a year."