Low-fare airline Ryanair has announced new routes for next summer.

The budget carrier will be operating from Stansted airport to 12 new destinations, including Basle, Bordeaux and Bucharest.

The no-frills airline, which has launched something of a charm offensive in recent weeks, will also be increasing frequencies on 17 routes next summer.

Other new destinations from summer 2014 include Dortmund, Lisbon, and Prague.

Routes where flight frequencies will increase include Milan, Rome, Berlin, Barcelona and Dublin.

The increases are part of Ryanair's long-term agreement with Stansted's owners Manchester Airports Group (MAG). The new flying programme will see Ryanair offer an additional 1.3 million seats from Stansted, taking the airline's capacity at the Essex airport to 14.5 million passengers.

Ryanair plans to increase its Stansted passenger numbers to more than 18 million a year by 2018 and then upwards to nearly 21 million passengers a year by 2023.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said the new routes and increased frequencies would sustain more than 1,300 on-site jobs at Stansted.

MAG chief executive Charlie Cornish said the announcement was "fantastic news for Stansted, the region and the passengers who rely on the airport".