AN airline chief has urged those responsible for marketing Yorkshire to be quick on their feet to attract more visitors.

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, who is spearheading a change of image for the low-cost operator, was speaking during a promotional visit to Leeds Bradford Airport.

He said: “The region needs the best marketing plan in Britain to get people around Europe to visit Yorkshire.

“So I would always ask that never say that the marketing plan for getting Europeans to visit Yorkshire is good enough. Always work at it because the guys over in Liverpool and Manchester are working on their plan to get people to choose Liverpool or Manchester over Yorkshire.

“Always work at that and tell the great story that Yorkshire has to tell.”

Ryanair, led by outspoken boss Michael O’Leary, is now Europe’s largest airline and has launched a campaign to reposition the brand.

Its Always Getting Better project includes allowing passengers to take two bags on board and allocated seating. The airline has also spent around £20 million on improving its website.

Ryanair has increased passenger numbers from 81 million to 90 million, with its 820,000 customers at Leeds Bradford Airport accounting for a quarter of the Yeadon hub’s total.

Mr Jacobs said the company aimed to achieve 160 million passengers by 2024 and is investing in 380 new aircraft to take its fleet to 520 within a decade.

He praised Leeds Bradford for being an efficient and well-run airport while announcing that Ryanair was adding flights to Riga in Latvia to its 20 services at Leeds Bradford.

Airport chiefs also announced the launch of nine new holiday destinations this summer, providing more flight choice and frequency to Greece, Turkey, Malta, Italy and Spain.

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will operate four new routes to Malta, Tunisia, Greece (Cephalonia) and Turkey (Antalya) providing a total of 42 summer destinations.

Monarch and Cosmos Holidays have introduced Naples, offering easy access to Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. The addition of Alicante widens their choice of summer-flight-only and holiday routes to ten.

Thomson and First Choice have introduced new all-inclusive holidays to Crete, and Omega Holidays has started a lakes and mountain programme flying to Friedrichshafen.

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