by Martin Jefferies

Scheduled flights from Kent
International Airport are to return for the first time
since the collapse of EUjet five years ago.

Flybe is to launch a
daily service between Manston and Edinburgh in May, with journey
times to the Scottish capital, which can take more than six hours
by train, slashed to just 80 minutes.

It is the second time the low-cost airline has trialled flights
from Kent, having flown passengers to Jersey last summer.

Sorry, this video asset has been removed.

Audio: Kent International
Airport chief executive Matt Clarke talks to reporter Martin
Jefferies about the new Manston-Edinburgh flights

Tickets for the new service are already available online and are
priced from £24.99 one way, including taxes and charges.

Niall Duffy, head of PR at Flybe, said the airline was confident
interest in the Edinburgh route would be strong and hinted its
presence at Kent International Airport could develop in years to
come.

He said: "Flybe has been looking at Manston for a long time now.
We've done our research and in two or three years time, if the
flights to and from Edinburgh prove successful, we may add extra
destinations in the future."

Flybe, which carries around 7.5million passengers every year and
is the largest regional airline in Europe, is the third company to
confirm it will operate flights from Manston in 2010.

Discover
Jersey will run flights to the Channel Islands, while
Newmarket
Holidays will fly passengers to Italy, Portugal,
Croatia, Malta, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Kent International Airport, which is owned by New Zealand-based
Infratil, announced
ambitious plans for expansion last year. It plans to carry
2.2million passengers by 2018, rising to 4.7million by 2033.

Monday's announcement came just weeks after Mr Clarke announced
he was standing down after three year's in the pilot's seat.

He is returning home to New Zealand and will be replaced by Tom
Wilson, the chief executive officer of Infratil
Airports Europe, next month.