Flybe is to double seat capacity on its Inverness to Southampton Airport and Manchester Airport routes due to demand.

The airline will begin the changeover from E145 to 78-seater Bombardier Q400 aircraft on 10 July.

Mike Rutter, Chief Commercial Officer for Flybe, says: “We’ve been bowled over by the immediate success of these routes. It’s always been part of our plan to phase out the older aircraft inherited from our acquisition of BA Connect in March last year and replace them with our newer, more environmentally sensitive Q400s. We’re delighted that these routes have proved so popular, enabling us to introduce them so much earlier than originally planned.”

Flybe’s summer services from Inverness have just got underway.

The routes include daily flights to Exeter; twice daily flights to Manchester airport and daily flights to Southampton airport.

Inglis Lyon, managing director of Highlands and Islands Airports said: “The launch of Flybe’s new services represents further investment on the airline’s part in connecting the Highlands with the rest of the UK. We expect the new services to be popular with both business and leisure travellers and look forward to them contributing to significant growth at Inverness this year.”