Ireland West Airport Knock has announced a major boost for the west of Ireland with the news that Europe’s largest airline and the fourth biggest airline in the world, Lufthansa, will commence new services to Germany starting in May 2012.
Starting May 7 2012 Lufthansa will operate direct flights to and from Dusseldorf every Saturday until September 29. Connecting services to the German cities of Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich will also be available for booking as part of this new service.
Lufthansa is the world's fourth largest airline, operating services to 203 international destinations in 78 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Together with its partners Lufthansa services some 410 destinations worldwide.
The announcement of these new services is a major milestone in the airport’s history and connects the west and northwest of Ireland with Germany, the world's largest outbound market and the third largest source of visitors to Ireland. More than 400,000 Germans visit Ireland each year with more than 200,000 visiting the west and northwest of Ireland.
These new services have the potential to bring in approximately 2,000 German tourists to the region, generating a spend in excess of €1,000,000 for the west and northwest.
Commenting on the announcement, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, said: “I would like to congratulate the team at Ireland West Airport Knock for delivering this new route, which will benefit the whole region and has huge significance from a tourism point of view. Germany is a key market for Irish tourism as German tourists tend to stay for an average of a week at a time and travel more widely. This is a great example of how close co-operation between the transport and tourism sectors can deliver a successful result.”
Joe Gilmore, managing director Ireland West Airport Knock, added: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome the world’s fourth largest airline, Lufthansa, to Ireland West Airport Knock. Germany has long been identified as a key strategic market for this airport but also for the island of Ireland from a tourism perspective, and we are delighted that Lufthansa have chosen our airport to operate new services to and from Germany in 2012. This is a major vote of confidence for this airport and indeed the wider region.
“We urge the trade and tourism partners in the region to get behind these new services and ensure their success in 2012, and we are confident that this will be the start of significant expansion by Lufthansa at this airport in the coming years.”.
For information on fares and to book flights log onto www.lufthansa.com
