East Midlands Airport is flying high after being nominated for a top UK travel award for the first time in six years.

The airport has been shortlisted for Travel Weekly's Globe Travel Best UK Airport award for 2018.

Nominees are shortlisted by the number of votes they receive from travel agents across the UK, who also vote for the eventual winner.

With almost five million passengers flying to and from the East Midlands each year, bosses said the airport had established itself as a hub for low fare airlines such as Jet2.com and Ryanair and tour operators like TUI Airways which serve more than 80 domestic and European short-haul destinations as well as Cancun in Mexico and Orlando in the US.

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East Midlands Airport is up for an award

It is also a base for BMI Regional and Thomas Cook Airlines and its cargo operation is the UK's second largest after Heathrow.

Heidi Barlow, head of marketing at East Midlands Airport, said: "We're really excited about our nomination and I want to thank all those who voted for us.

"We hope our partners in the trade continue to provide their support and back us to win the award, which would be an amazing achievement when you consider who we're in competition with.

"Being a smaller airport in terms of passenger numbers appeals to a lot of people because we're seen as relatively hassle-free and more personable, which we really pride ourselves on."

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Thomas Cook flies out of East Midlands Airport

East Midlands Airport is nominated for Best UK Airport alongside Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool John Lennon, Manchester and Newcastle.

The winner of the award will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, January 11.

    Since 2012, East Midlands Airport has invested £50 million to improve infrastructure and passenger facilities.

    This included a new £15 million runway last year, terminal improvements costing £16 million in 2014 and other customer-facing areas, such as the expansion to security.

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      In the last year bosses at the airport said they had seen a 50 per cent drop in the number of complaints it received and its car parking is currently ranked third highest in the UK for customer satisfaction and second highest in the UK for value for money.

      East Midlands Airport directly employs around 600 people but 7,000 people work across the entire airport site with complementary businesses such as DHL, UPS, Royal Mail and FedEx as well as in hotels and other local businesses that benefit from being situated so close to the airport.