First holiday flight in five years takes off from Durham Tees Valley Airport

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen with The Balkan Holidays flight crew Credit:

The first holiday destination flight for five years has taken off from Durham Tees Valley Airport.

The plane set off for Bulgaria on Saturday morning, coinciding with the start of the school half-term holidays.

Balkan Holidays is the company behind the new routes. The flight operator has introduced a full programme of summer holiday charter flights to Bulgaria. The country was voted ‘the world’s best value holiday destination’ in a 2019 Post Office Survey.

Last week Balkan Holidays announced it will continue to provide flights from Durham Tees Valley to Bulgaria in the summer of 2020. The company is this year operating a weekly service to Bourgas, taking in popular beach resorts such as Sunny Beach, Nessebar and Golden Sands.

While the first flight wasn't at full capacity, almost all seats were booked up. After a slight delay to take off, the flight got underway.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said:

Louise Newton, Balkan Holidays, said: