Ryanair has named Liverpool's John Lennon Airport as its latest European base.
The airport becomes Ryanair's 12th European base with an investment of €184 million ($240 million) in four new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft and nine new European routes from the airport.
Ryanair, which began services at Liverpool in 1988, operates 14 daily international flights from Liverpool to Dublin, Barcelona (Girona), Milan and Rome.
The airline is predicting that over the next 12 months it will carry 1.4m passengers to and from Liverpool It says the investment will sustain over 1000 new jobs in the Liverpool area.