by Martin Jefferies

Scheduled flights from Kent International Airport are to return for the first time since the collapse of EUjet five years ago.

Flybe is to launch a daily service between Manston and Edinburgh in May, with journey times to the Scottish capital, which can take more than six hours by train, slashed to just 80 minutes.

It is the second time the low-cost airline has trialled flights from Kent, having flown passengers to Jersey last summer.

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Audio: Kent International Airport chief executive Matt Clarke talks to reporter Martin Jefferies about the new Manston-Edinburgh flights

Tickets for the new service are already available online and are priced from £24.99 one way, including taxes and charges.

Niall Duffy, head of PR at Flybe, said the airline was confident interest in the Edinburgh route would be strong and hinted its presence at Kent International Airport could develop in years to come.

He said: "Flybe has been looking at Manston for a long time now. We've done our research and in two or three years time, if the flights to and from Edinburgh prove successful, we may add extra destinations in the future."

Flybe, which carries around 7.5million passengers every year and is the largest regional airline in Europe, is the third company to confirm it will operate flights from Manston in 2010.

Discover Jersey will run flights to the Channel Islands, while Newmarket Holidays will fly passengers to Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Malta, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Kent International Airport, which is owned by New Zealand-based Infratil, announced ambitious plans for expansion last year. It plans to carry 2.2million passengers by 2018, rising to 4.7million by 2033.

Monday's announcement came just weeks after Mr Clarke announced he was standing down after three year's in the pilot's seat.

He is returning home to New Zealand and will be replaced by Tom Wilson, the chief executive officer of Infratil Airports Europe, next month.