Bmibaby has launched three new low cost routes from Birmingham International Airport to Glasgow, Faro and Murcia.

Yesterday the carrier claimed fares on its new double daily Glasgow International service were 42 per cent cheaper than the lowest ongoing fares from existing carriers.

The airline is also now operating four flights a week to Murcia and three flights a week to Faro, with fares starting from just #24.99 one way, including taxes and charges.

Managing director Crawford Rix said: "We are pleased to announce our new routes from Birmingham International, which are only the first wave of destinations that bmibaby will be launching as part of its significant expansion programme at the airport during 2007.

"The new double daily service to Glasgow International marks the arrival of truly low cost fares on this route from just #13.99 across the whole current selling season – March 25 to October 27 2007 – which is a massive 42 per cent cheaper than the lowest ongoing fares of existing carriers over the same period.

"The new services to Faro and Murcia will be popular with leisure travellers – especially those with second homes and friends and family in these destinations.

"As the number one airline in the Midlands, bmibaby remains committed to providing low cost fares from the region to popular European destinations."

Earlier this month bmib announced that it was introducing three additional Boeing 737 aircraft to its fleet at Birmingham International, taking its total number of aircraft based at the airport to eight. Capacity will increase by 60 per cent year on year, consolidating the airline’s position as the largest carrier in the Midlands and making it the largest at Birmingham International Airport.

The three new routes, together with the recently launched double daily service to Aberdeen, means bmibaby will now operate more than 300 weekly flights to and from the airport to 16 European destinations.

Bmibaby only started operations at Birmingham in January last year but has since grown rapidly to become a major carrier at the airport.

The airline also flies to Aberdeen, Alicante, Amsterdam, Belfast International, Bordeaux, Cork, Edinburgh, Geneva, Knock, Nice, Malaga, Palma and Prague.

Meanwhile, Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus has announced a number of new routes and increased frequency of flights to European cities from next summer.

The airline said it was starting a new thrice-weekly service to Athens from next June.

A new five-times-a week route from Cork to Manchester will begin the same month.

Passengers travelling through Cork will be able to fly to Madrid and Prague on thrice-weekly flights from next summer.

Existing services from Dublin to Budapest, Geneva, Lisbon, Prague, Venice and Zurich will be increased to daily flights, the airline said.

Other routes to see increased frequency are those from Dublin to Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, Dubrovnik, Krakow, Madrid, Naples, Nice, Rennes, Riga and Seville.

Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion said: "These new routes, together with additional frequency on existing routes, will offer more choice and build on the success of our Low Fares, Way Better offering."

The latest routes mean the airline will operate 65 short haul services from next June.

Overall passenger numbers increased by 6.4 per cent to 777,000 for September, a statement from the airline added.

Short-haul passenger numbers grew by 8.9 per cent during the month.