Manchester Airport has confirmed that it is already making plans for a Ryanair-free future, with a number of new long-haul and short-haul services due to be launched over the coming months.

Earlier this month, the Irish low-cost carrier announced that it is to close nine of its ten routes out of the airport, with passengers to be unable to fly directly from Manchester to Marseille, Cagliari and Bremen from October.

At the same time, however, rival budget airline Jet2.com has announced that it is to expand on its operations out of Manchester, with new flights to Venice, Gran Canaria and Cos to be introduced alongside existing services to the likes of Tel Aviv and Sharm el Sheikh.

Commenting on the developments, Andrew Cornish, managing director of Manchester Airport , said: "The fact that Jet2.com is continuing to expand its services from Manchester is extremely encouraging to the airport and the region as a whole

This comes on the back of the ongoing expansion of services from Manchester to the Middle East, with the likes of Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways offering regular services to the likes of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.