THE number of passengers travelling through Liverpool John Lennon Airport increased in May.

With around 480,000 travellers passing through the airport, it has seen a 2% rise since the same time last year.

Last month Blue Islands began its new twice weekly service to Guernsey from the airport and Liverpool fans travelled to Spain ahead of the Champions League Final - bringing more customers to the site.

Ryanair has now also began its new summer routes to Copenhagen and Corfu with more services still to come.

Elsewhere, Wizz Air's three-times weekly service to Varna in Bulgaria will begin next month along with Lauda's twice weekly Vienna service which is scheduled to start at the end of October.

Paul Winfield, director of aviation development at LJLA told the Globe: "We are delighted after reaching 5.1 million passengers during 2018, to continue our growth to date during 2019.

"With three new airlines operating from here and over 70 destinations now served, Liverpool John Lennon Airport provides a Faster Easier Friendlier option for passengers across the North West region during 2019."