This week marked the inaugural flight to the Greek Island of Kos setting off from Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA).

Flights to Rhodes have also started for summer and flights to Lodz in Poland resume again this weekend.

This is the first time that Ryanair has operated flights to Greece from Liverpool and since going on sale just over two months ago, the airline has seen record levels of sales for the Kos flight.

Both Greek destinations are part of the Dodecanese group of islands located in the Aegean Sea.

Kos was reportedly visited by Hercules in Roman mythology whilst Rhodes - the largest in this group of islands and historically, is famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Today both are popular summer holiday destinations.

Robin Tudor, head of PR for Peel Airports said: "The recent warm weather here in the UK has started to get everybody in the mood for some summer sunshine, but as always, it was short lived and the rain returned as usual.

"Thankfully with Ryanair’s summer season now underway, the region’s holidaymakers have even more great opportunities to get away to more reliable hot weather. There are few better places for this than the island of Kos, with the convenience of flying from your local airport and at some of the lowest fares around”

Ryanair’s Maria Macken added: “Ryanair is delighted to launch its Greek routes from Liverpool, which will operate twice weekly to Kos (Wednesdays and Sundays) and Rhodes (Thursdays and Mondays) making both destinations ideal for a weekend in the sun or a longer getaway."