More flights scheduled to Scotland's Inspiring Capital
6th March 2007
Another new route from Edinburgh, this time to the German city
of Dortmund, has been announced by easyJet, Europe's leading
low-fares airline. The four times weekly service from
Edinburgh will commence on 30 May with fares from just £27.99 one
way (£45.98 return including tax).
The airline expects to carry over 55,000 passengers on this
route in the first 12 months, which means easyJet will carry close
to 2.5 million passengers from Edinburgh this year. Scotland now
represents 8% of easyJet's total network, with close to five
million passengers expected to travel on the airline’s Scottish
routes in the coming year.
David Osborne, easyJet’s UK General Manager, said: "We are
very excited about launching yet another new route from Edinburgh.
The Dortmund service is the fifth new route to be announced in the
last four months and proves easyJet's commitment to its Edinburgh
base. Sales for these new routes have been strong, highlighting the
demand for direct low-cost flights to and from Edinburgh. Dortmund
is Germany’s sixth largest city and will be popular with both
business and leisure passengers alike."
easyJet's new service from Edinburgh to Dortmund is a result of
investment from the Scottish Executive in the form of the route
development fund. This is a scheme introduced to support new direct
air links, which will bring economic benefits to Scotland. easyJet
will also benefit from the funding in the form of marketing support
from VisitScotland to help promote Scotland as a destination in
Germany.
National tourism organisation VisitScotland works closely with
easyJet to promote its direct routes to Scotland in international
markets. Annabel Kohler, VisitScotland’s Marketing Manager for
Germany said:
“Germany is our most important source of tourists from Europe
and we are delighted to see a third easyJet route from Germany to
Scotland within just one year. With Berlin, Munich and Dortmund
easyJet now serves three key areas of Germany, providing low-cost
direct access to both Edinburgh and Glasgow. The German tourism
market is growing, with the latest figures from 2005 showing that
5.9m German tourists took a European city break, spending
£2.7billion. We are taking advantage of the network of direct
flights to Scotland by investing around £1 million in order to gain
a larger share of this city breaks market, as well as promoting
Scottish touring holidays and activities, such as walking and
golf.”
Dortmund has developed into a modern service metropolis in
recent years, featuring numerous cultural highlights. Dortmund’s
cultural life, featuring variety theatres, museums and galleries
also enjoys an excellent reputation, and the local cabaret scene
has long made a name for itself beyond the borders of the city.
Managing Director of Edinburgh Airport, Richard Jeffrey, said:
"This brand new connection to Dortmund is the latest in a series of
exciting new international destinations from Edinburgh to be
announced by easyJet. A cultural hub known for its shopping,
Dortmund is an ideal city break destination, which we are sure will
prove popular with our passengers.
"The service will also provide a year-round link to what is an
important economic centre, and further builds on Edinburgh's
existing route network to Germany, which is a key market for
inbound tourism.
"We look forward to working with easyJet to ensure the success
of this new route."
This new route is the third German city to be introduced to
Scotland by easyJet following the launch of Glasgow to Berlin last
year and Edinburgh to Munich, which will commence on 4 April this
year. Forward bookings for Munich have been very strong, which
proves the demand for low-cost direct routes from Edinburgh to
business centres across Europe. This route to Dortmund is set to be
popular not just for Scots travelling on business and leisure, but
will boost business in the capital through inbound tourism and
commerce.
easyJet launched the first of its new routes from Edinburgh on
Sunday 25 February with a daily flight from Edinburgh to the
cosmopolitan capital of Spain - Madrid, with prices starting from
£25.99 single (£36.98 return including tax). The airline expects to
carry over 95,000 passengers during the first twelve months of
operation. The new routes will increase the choice of attractive
destinations for the region to enjoy from Edinburgh to 13.
Article sourced from Easy Jet.
