The government is set to support flights from the Carlisle Lake District Airport through a multi-million pound fund.
George Osborne revealed plans to back the development in his Spending Review today.
He will provide £7 million through the Regional Air Connectivity Fund to support new air routes promoting domestic and international connectivity, including from Carlisle to Belfast and Southend.
It is hoped that financially backing flights will help stimulate jobs and growth.
Andrew Tinkler, chief executive of the airport's owner, Stobart Group, said last month that Government support for the airport was 'vital' if commercial flights were to become a reality.
He had said: "
“But we have to make it sustainable and it takes time to build passenger numbers on a new route.
“That [government] support in the first two or three years is vital.”
Flights from the airport to Southend and Belfast are expected to start in summer 2016.
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