New ownership for Norwich Airport - but will it mean new flights and new destinations for passengers?

Norwich International has been taken over by the group which already owns Coventry and Exeter airports.

With the recent rise in flights from the region's other airports at Stansted and Southend, the company's predicting a significant increase in passenger numbers in Norwich.

The man behind the purchase is self-made millionaire Sir Peter Rigby, hoping Norwich can grow in the same way that Southend Airport has since being taken over by the Stobart Group.

Today, the new owners wouldn't reveal the cost of the takeover and they gave little away about potential new destinations.

However, they did say that within five years they hoped the number of passengers using the airport every year would rise to 600,000.

There were 470,000 passengers who passed through the airport last year.

Among the domestic routes Norwich serves are Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester - with onward flights to Belfast.

There's a four-times a day service from Norwich to Amsterdam offering international connections in Holland - and there are several other European holiday destinations operating at the moment.

Passengers hope a change in ownership will bring about a change in strategy.

The Chief Executive of the airport, Andrew Bell, says that there are plans to try and push for new destinations in Spain and Portugal, including Alicante and Faro, and direct business flights to Dublin could also be in the pipeline.

At 10:30 this morning, Norwich Airport resembled a ghost town.

The task facing the new owners is to get the check ins as busy then as they are earlier and later in the day.

Click below to watch a report from ITV News Anglia's Malcolm Robertson