A British airport has revealed that demand for services to Spain has increased significantly in the last year.

According to Birmingham International Airport (BIA), passenger numbers on flights to Barcelona have gone up by more than 180 per cent.

Meanwhile, growth was also recorded on flights to places such as Murcia, Almeria, Alicante and Palma.

This has helped BIA achieve record passenger numbers in March 2008, with more than 730,000 passing through its two terminals.

The figure is 8.4 per cent more than the amount recorded a year earlier and comes after passenger numbers in February also reached record levels.

Peter Vella, business development director at BIA, commented: "It is the second straight month of record-breaking passenger figures, which is obviously great news as we strive to break the ten million passenger barrier this year."

Spain’s popularity among tourists from the UK was recently highlighted by the Association of British Travel Agents, which described it as their "outright favourite".