easyJet to launch two new routes
easyJet, Europe's leading low-fares airline, today unveiled plans to launch yet another new route from Edinburgh, this time to the German city of Dortmund. 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 5 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 will be launching the first of its new routes from Edinburgh this weekend. Sunday 25 February will see the launch of 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.
easyJet has also unveiled plans today to commence a new route from Dortmund to Thessaloniki in Greece, a destination not previously served by the airline. The new daily flight, which commences on 31 May will offer fares of just €26.99 one way (€61.98 return including tax).