LONG-HAUL scheduled flights from regional airports are seeing a huge boost in passenger numbers - with Manchester among the most popular.

Regional airports, including Manchester, are seeing large growth with the number of passengers flying on international scheduled flights up from 6.2 million in 1990, to 29.8 million in 2004.

The study has been published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which says UK regional air services are thriving as new airlines appear and existing companies expand.

Among the airlines expanding into regional airports is Zoom Airlines, a relatively new contender in the long-haul scheduled market place.

It says it realised the potential for direct, lower-cost international flights from the UK to Canada.

In 2004, Zoom started operating scheduled flights from Gatwick and Glasgow to six Canadian destinations including Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.

But from this summer, it will also fly from Manchester to Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

The CAA says people prefer to travel direct from their local airport to a much wider choice of international destinations.

It reported that the total number of international scheduled routes from UK regional airports is nearly four times that in 1990.

Debbie Marshall, director of Zoom Airlines, said: "When we first launched Zoom, we focused on offering low-cost transatlantic flights to cater for the majority of the Scottish and English public, with scheduled flights from Gatwick and Glasgow.

"Due to the outstanding level of demand for our services, in the first year of operating, we further researched the catchment area of passengers booking Zoom flights.

"Our flights are proving to be extremely appealing to the travelling public and I am delighted to be introducing Manchester, Cardiff and Belfast this summer, offering local, scheduled transatlantic flights to some of the most sought after Canadian destinations."

Short-haul flights are also continuing to prove popular. Ryanair, which flies to Dublin from Manchester and Liverpool, and bmiBaby, which has flights out of Manchester to destinations across Europe, continue to pick up more passengers.

And easyJet has firmly established itself at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

British Airways has announced cut-price flights over Easter as the battle for passengers continues. It says seats booked between 10am on March 4 and 10am on March 7, to 28 cities in Europe and the UK from Manchester, will be at the lowest fare.

Steve Cassidy, British Airways CitiExpress commercial director, said: "With such an excellent European and domestic route network from Manchester, we are sure that thousands of passengers will enjoy the experience of flying to Europe with a full service airline at minimum cost this summer."