AIRLINE operator bmi has launched an extra daily flight from Durham Tees Valley Airport to London Heathrow.

North-East businesses can take advantage of the fourth daily flight, which leaves at 1.10pm from Teesside and arrives at Heathrow at 2.25pm.

The move is aimed at the region's business and leisure travel market.

The new flight will help meet demand from the North-East for improved services to and from the capital, and for onward connections to international departures from Heathrow.

It also comes as bmi (formerly British Midland) marks the 35th anniversary of the start of scheduled services from Durham Tees Valley Airport (formerly Teesside International Airport).

During the past 35 years, the airline has clocked up more than4,500,000 air miles on the route and carried an estimated six million passengers from the airport. Launching the service, Neil Etherington, strategic investment and marketing director of Tees Valley Regeneration, said: "The new service is great and is just the type of fillip that regional business needs in these competitive times."

Durham Tees Valley Airport predicts that passenger numbers will break through the one million a year mark next year - an increase of more than 30 per cent on current passenger numbers.

Earlier last month, the airport reported a 20 per cent rise in passenger figures for September compared to the same period last year.

The airport's recent name change is part of a three year redevelopment plan by the airport and its strategic regional partners to build on past successes and reinforce its position as one of the UK's fastest-growing regional airports.