The Flybe airline is to open a new UK base, creating 50 jobs.

From June Flybe will operate from Cardiff Airport to 11 destinations including Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Jersey.

The carrier will also be operating from Cardiff to Dusseldorf, Faro, Munich, Milan and Paris.

Flybe will base two 118-seater Embraer E1095 aircraft at Cardiff, with the first arriving in June and the second in September.

First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones said: "This announcement is fantastic news."

Meanwhile, easyJet has announced that it carried more than 4.49 million passengers in February - a 6.1% rise on the same month last year.

In the 12 months ending in February easyJet carried more than 65.60 million passengers - a 6.5% rise on the total for the previous 12 months.

Ryanair also announced passenger figures which showed that 5.8 million passengers travelled with the low-fare Irish carrier in February - a 29% rise on the February 2014 figure.

In the 12 months ending in February Ryanair carried 89.1 million passengers - 9% more than in the 12 months before.

Virgin Atlantic has announced it will operate a second daily service between Heathrow in London and San Francisco from October 24.

Virgin will use a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the flight.