Monarch airline has announced the launch of a new Manchester to Tel Aviv service to start in April 2016.

The moves follows the introduction of flights from London Luton earlier this month.

Flights are available to book from this week.

Monarch said Tel Aviv had been growing in popularity as a leisure destination in recent years.

Yariv Levin, Israel’s Minister of Tourism said he was delighted with the airline’s plan to add a “northern hub” to its UK-Israel route.

He added: “This is a very exciting time for travel to Israel, with the launch of many new carriers and routes from across the globe. With more carriers flying to Israel we see there is an ever increasing demand to visit Israel.”

Monarch’s London to Tel Aviv service was launched in early December, when it also started flights to Eilat’s Ovda airport.

Adrian Tighe, the airline’s chief commercial officer, said: “We are keen to get the message out that Eilat is a top winter sun destination and we are committed to making it as successful as other seaside holiday resorts in the region”.

Up to now, visitors to Eilat, which has had over 100 million shekels invested in its tourism infrastructure in recent years, have had to fly into Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, then either driven for four hours or taken a domestic flight.