A new UK route will see passengers in Cornwall given even more choice of destinations from Newquay Airport.

Eastern Airways will launch a daily service between Cornwall Airport Newquay and East Midlands Airport in time for the February half term break.

The airline says it will add more than 1,000 two-way weekly seats to Newquay’s schedule next year, after starting on February 10, 2023.

Eastern Airways has also confirmed will be expanding its programme of flights from Cornwall to London Gatwick and Humberside, due to demand.

It will add a third time to its links to Gatwick on some weekdays, meaning 19 flights a week. The extra flights will be at 12.50pm out of Newquay and 2.50pm from Gawtick, on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

And there will soon be double the number of flights to Humberside to four times a week.

Sam O’Dwyer, managing director at Cornwall Airport Newquay, said: “As we continue to welcome a significant expansion of our route network here at Cornwall Airport Newquay, we are so pleased Eastern Airways has announced a new daily connection between the East Midlands and the south west.

“Our research and passenger feedback has shown there is much demand for a link into the Midlands region from Cornwall, combined with more capacity into London, and the doubling of flights into Humberside is fantastic news.

“Eastern Airways has been serving Cornwall since 2020 and these latest announcements provide a clear indication of its continued commitment to ensure our customers have more choice available to them when travelling within the UK throughout the year.”

Roger Hage, commercial director at Eastern Airways, said the new route to East Midlands Airport would open up South Yorkshire as a “staycation destination” for people in Cornwall, and vice versa.

With a flight time of one hour and 20 minutes each way, the new route would save more than eight hours on what the 600-mile round trip would take on land.

Mr Hage added: “This is a major step in growing connectivity to the Cornwall base and the only Midlands service to the south west of England.

“By adding East-Midlands Airport with the major cities of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester all within 30-minutes and Sheffield within an hour, this welcome addition to the domestic network at East-Midlands will aid those who travel for business, visit friends and family or seek a welcome leisure break without the need for international travel.”