Cityjet is set to launch flights from Southend airport starting in April 2017.
The Dublin-based carrier, which currently operates flights from London City airport, will offer up to 18 routes from the Essex airport using up to four aircraft.
The announcement was made by Southend’s owner Stobart Group, which said "heads of terms" had been signed with Cityjet that will add an extra 600,000 passenger journeys per year. Details of these new routes have yet to be announced.
Stobart CEO Andrew Tinkler said: “We are very pleased to be working with Cityjet to add new flights at Southend airport. This arrangement will open up around 18 new destinations, giving our customers more choice.
“These additional services could bring up to 600,000 passengers per year to the airport providing us with further momentum towards achieving our target run rate of 2.5 million passengers by 2018.”
Stobart Air, which operates regional flights around Europe for clients such as Aer Lingus and Flybe, and Cityjet have been talks about a possible merger during recent months. Reports have suggested that a deal may be completed imminently.