Airline Flybe is to launch a service to Manchester from Manston from the autumn.

The announcement comes on the day Kent International Airport launches its Edinburgh service.

The Manchester schedule is to start from September 6.

Meanwhile, scheduled flights today returned to Kent International Airport when Flybe's Manston - Edinburgh service took off for the first time.

The daily service to the Scottish capital launches five years after the high profile collapse of EUjet.

It has been described as "a huge vote of confidence" in Thanet by tourism bosses at Visit Kent and has already created 20 new jobs at the airport.

Demand for the new route has been strong, despite the recent disruption to air travel caused by ash from the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

A Scottish piper welcomed passengers boarding the first flight to Edinburgh this lunchtime.

The Manston route marks the second time Flybe has trialled flights from Kent, having flown passengers to Jersey last summer.

The low cost airline says tickets for the new service, which went on sale in February, start at £24.99 one way, including taxes and charges.