Teesside International Airport's new "baby" arrived 10 minutes early on Sunday.

Weighing in at 53 tonnes the bmibaby Boeing 737 from Belfast touched down at 7.20pm.

Geoff Callen, (pictured above left), the first passenger to check-in for the new service was presented with a bottle of champagne by Richard Whitehouse (right) the airport's commercial manager.

Mr Callen, from Richmond, was travelling to Belfast to visit his aunt and was delighted to fly direct from Teesside. "This really is great news for me," he said.

More than 100 passengers used the service on the first day travelling from York, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Darlington, Stockton, Hartlepool and Whitby - part of the attraction was the £12.50 one way fare.

Another local link was provided with the pilot of the first flight, Capt Neil Harrison who was born in Sunderland and learned to fly at Teesside.

Mr Whitehouse said the inaugural flight to Belfast was a significant day in the history of the airport.

"It well and truly puts the airport on the low-cost map," he said, "The service to Belfast is the start of things to come and we look forward to working closely with bmibaby to introduce more services over the forthcoming months."

Tomorrow bmibaby will operate its first service to Malaga from Teesside, the flight is already full, while flights to Geneva start on December 20.

The airline will shortly announce a further range of destinations.