Low-cost airline Ryanair last night announced four new routes from London Stansted, including its first flights to Portugal.

The Dublin-based company is launching flights to Valencia, Almeria and Seville, in Spain, and Porto, in Portugal, with fares starting at 99p, excluding taxes.

The flights will start between November 2 and February 25 next year.

Two of the new routes, Valencia and Almeria, will see Ryanair in direct competition with rival budget airline easyJet, which has already announced flights to those cities.

Ryanair, which runs flights out of the renamed Durham Tees Valley Airport, recently announced the addition of routes to Rome from the region's airport.

Ryanair also announced yesterday it is to launch on-board entertainment costing passengers £5.

A selection of films, chart videos, cartoons, comedy classics and audio CDs will be available on five Stansted-based aircraft.

Passengers will be charged an introductory price of £5 to access the facility after the project's November launch.

If successful, Ryanair will extend the scheme to the rest of its fleet by March next year.