The first Belfast flight from Manston takes to the skies this afternoon.

Despite plane groundings earlier this week due to the ash cloud, the Northern Ireland flight is due to set off at 13.45pm and will take an hour and a half.

Niall Duffy, spokesman for Flybe airlines which is running the service, said: "It probably takes between 12 and 14 hours to go via Kent and Manchester to catch a ferry to Northern Ireland, so the fact that we're looking at an hour and a half on an airplane, compared to 12 to 14 hours by road, rail and ferry, is the biggest advantage to starting this route up."

There will be three flights a week to the city, leaving at 13.45pm on a Tuesday and Thursday and 12.50pm on a Sunday.