Ireland West Airport Knock welcomed Europe’s largest airline, Lufthansa, to the West of Ireland as the inaugural flight from Dusseldorf touched down early this week.
The new service connects the West and North West of Ireland with Germany, the world's largest outbound market and the third largest source of visitors to the island of Ireland. More than 200,000 Germans visit the West and North West of Ireland every year and they can now avail of direct access to the heart of the West on Lufthansa’s only service to this part of Ireland.
The service which will operate every Saturday till the end of September is a major boost for tourism and business in the region and is expected to bring in the region of 2,000 German tourists generating a spend in excess of €1,000,000 for the West and North West regions
Accompanying passengers on the first flight from Dusseldorf were six key journalists from some of Germany's biggest media organisations who will be taking part in a three-day familiarisation trip around the West of Ireland to sample all the wonders and attractions the region has to offer.
The arrival of the first flight with Lufthansa coincides with the launch of a new €1m+ overseas joint tourism marketing campaign from the regions to encourage overseas holidaymakers to visit the West and North West of Ireland. The funding has been allocated through Fáilte Ireland, five local authorities (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo and Roscommon ), Tourism Ireland, the Western Development Commission and Ireland West Airport Knock. The campaigns will be rolled out in the coming weeks in Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy with particular emphasis on promoting the new access to Ireland West Airport Knock from Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.
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