AIRLINE Emirates has celebrated jetting its 250,000th passenger out of the North East.

The long haul carrier arrived at Newcastle International Airport in September 2007, offering daily flights to Dubai and beyond.

Nearly two years later and the airline continues to see passenger numbers grow, with holidaymakers from the region taking advantage of onward services to locations including Bangkok, Perth, Mauritius and Kuala Lumpur.

Retired engineer Peter Roeves was the quarter of a millionth passenger to board an Emirates plane from Newcastle and was given VIP treatment, along with wife Judith.

Mr Roeves, who was travelling to Perth via Dubai, said: “We travel to Australia regularly to see our family and being able to fly with Emirates directly from the region makes travelling much easier.

“Before Emirates started services, we had to fly via London and had some awful journeys.”

Emirates commenced its service from Newcastle in September 2007 and holidaymakers and business travellers alike are now able to travel directly from the region to Dubai and onto a network that spans six continents.

Laurie Berryman, Emirates manager UK North, said: “A quarter of a million passengers in less than two years is a significant achievement.

“We are delighted and grateful for the support we have received from passengers and cargo shippers from across the region.

“The remarkable thing in this environment of economic downturn is that we continue to show signs of growth. Over the last three months, we have averaged 10% growth in passenger numbers.

“And the key destinations stay the same. There are still good numbers going to Dubai and staying there, while number two is Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur is becoming popular.

“There is also a large Bangladeshi population in the region and we recently had 300 people heading there.”

Despite the positive results, Mr Berryman told The Journal the airline will ride out the economic downturn before making any expansion plans.

He said: “We always say it takes two to three years to get a route established and we have done a lot of work with the travel trade and have also offered good fares.

“Because of the current situation, we have got to continue with what is already a success and grow it. Let’s hope in another year’s time, we will have another 250,000th passenger and we will be in a better position to look forwards.”

Newcastle International chief executive Dave Laws said: “The Emirates service has gone from strength to strength since the airline started operations here nearly two years ago.

“In that time, they have provided North East customers with fast and convenient connections to destinations across the world.

“The route has played a vital role in supporting the region’s business community and will be instrumental in helping the North East emerge from the current recession.

“We congratulate Emirates on this impressive milestone and look forward to seeing them reach the half a million mark before too long.”