THREE new routes have been announced by Southend Airport.

Flybe’s winter schedule from Southend now includes flights to Dublin, Glasgow and Manchester.

Operated through Stobart Air’s partnership with Flybe, the new flights will further the airport’s aim to provide “regional connectivity”.

Flights to the hugely-popular Irish capital will operate up to three times daily.

The route to the UK’s 2013 Capital of Culture – Manchester – will also fly up to three times daily.

Passengers will be able to take off to Scotland’s largest city and a “Gateway to the Highlands” – Glasgow, up to twice daily from Sunday to Friday.

All the new routes start on October 29.

Glyn Jones, chief executive at Southend Airport said: “The announcement of these newroutes further builds on our ambition to make Southend the next big airport by providing fantastic leisure and business destinations to passengers from Essex, London and the South East, and now we can add regional connectivity to that mix.

“These routes to Dublin, Glasgow and Manchester also show we are listening to our customers and responding – as routes to Ireland and Scotland are among the most requested destinations. Southend Airport is perfectly placed to serve London’s growing travel market, especially in the face of the other London airport capacity constraints.”

Flights to Budapest, Lyon, Milan Malpensa, Prague, Rennes and Vienna - all of which have been hugely popular since taking off in May - will also continue into the winter months.

This takes the total number of routes available from Southend Airport this winter to 25.

Mr Jones outlined his plans to ensure Southend Airport continues to prosper.

He said: “There are three priorities for us in the near future.

“We want to boost our passenger growth and are aiming to hit 2.5 million next year.

“The wider range of routes gives more choices and opens it up to different markets.

“A lot are leisure routes because 80 per cent of passengers are travelling for leisure but we’ve also added new routes that cater for the business market as well, like Cologne.

“A lot of work has been done to expand the offerings available in the terminal.

“We picked up from feedback that people want more food and retail outlets.

Tickets are one sale from today at flybe.com starting from £29.99 per person one way (including taxes and charges).