FLIGHTS to Alicante, Spain, will be taking off this summer for the first time in nine years, Teesside Airport has announced - and they go on sale today.

Weekly return flights, run by Eastern Airways, will be taking off on Friday August 14 through until September 7, meaning that holidaymakers can once again get some summer sun from their local airport following the lifting of certain travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Fares start at £69.99 per person one way and go on sale today, July, 15 and includes both hold and hand on baggage.

It will mean that a family of four could fly from Teesside to the Mediterranean coast for less than £300.

The news follows the airport’s first-ever flights to London City and the start of a new route to Newquay which took off earlier this month.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “I’m delighted to be able to confirm people from Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool will be able to fly to Alicante from their local airport once again and notably at such an unbelievable price.

"It’s been a long-time coming and my thanks go to Eastern Airways for working tirelessly in getting these flights back on following what has been a difficult time for everyone."

In recent weeks, Teesside Airport announced the restart of flights for the oil, gas and renewables community to Aberdeen, the new daily links to the capital and plans to have international flights running in just a few weeks while adding more routes when it is safe to do so.

“The coronavirus has presented unprecedented challenges for our airport, as it has for all airports around the UK, but because we put the building blocks in place for a brighter future beforehand, I always knew we would be able to come back stronger," Mr Houchen added. 

"We are making great progress on our ten-year plan and the fact we have been able to bring these flights back so soon shows the massive strides we have taken.

“It feels so good to get these Alicante summer flights back on for the people of this region and look forward to an even bigger summer schedule in 2021.”

Roger Hage, general manager commercial and operations for Eastern Airways, said: “It is such great news to be able to announce that we get to start our first ever flights to Spain from Teesside International.

“The last few months have been very difficult for the aviation industry but I’m thrilled that we’ve confirmed all of our flights are once again cleared for take-off."

Mr Hage says the airline is working on a "bigger and better" programme for next year.

Teesside Airport also recently confirmed multiple daily flights to Amsterdam will begin from August 3, which coincided a new five-year deal to provide international connectivity through Schiphol Airport.

Tickets are on sale now at www.EasternAirways.com and flight information and more details on safety measures can be found at www.teessideinternational.com